Gaz is Spirited Away
by cgaussie
Summary: (blood/vomiting is now PG) Spirited Away meets Invader Zim. It's all wrapped up peoples! Nothing more to see here except Gaz getting away! Read it now! Leave me comments now!
1. The Crazy Stuff Begins

Gaz Is Spirited Away  
Written by: Cartman's Girl  
  
Notes: Wow. What was I smoking when I thought this up? Spirited Away, Invader Zim style? Oh boy. I need therapy. I'm not sure how long I'll take this, but it's fun for now. So, enjoy.  
  
~*~  
  
The sun was shining on the city, shining with all its might. I hope you notice there's no 'E' in that sentence. Just like 'It was a dark and story night'. I'm smart. Anyway! Back to our story. The sun was shining, dainty little clouds dotted the sky; basking the road with light. Gaz was glaring out the window, arms folded. Dib was sat to the front of the car, reading a magazine.  
  
"This is going to be SO stupid." Gaz grumbled.  
  
"Now, now daughter. Let's not be such a gloomy Gaz." Her father, Professor Membrane said as he continued to steer along the clean gravel road. "Don't make moving house such a bad experience. Its fun, AND a good experience to get adjusted to your new surroundings."  
  
"It's going to SUCK." Gaz scolded. Dib rolled his eyes and leant around so he could see behind his car seat; kind of. At this point, Membrane turned down onto a dirt road.  
  
"Gaz, just because YOU'RE not into moving doesn't mean you have to sour the whole thing for everyone." He said, before turning back to his magazine. Gaz glared at the back of the seat, and gave it a good kick. Sending Dib's generously proportioned head into the dash board.  
  
"ARGH!" he cried out.  
  
"Now watch out son, these roads are bumpy!" Membrane declared. Dib scowled Gaz's name to himself as he rubbed his vast forehead. Gaz sniggered, until glancing out the window. More trees had suddenly taken up the view from the car window. She sat up straighter to have a look.  
  
"This can't be right…" Membrane had stopped the car.  
  
"Dad, the movers will be at our new place before we do!" Dib declared, "And I can't let any of em touch my stuff! There are valuable things in my boxes!"  
  
"Like what, CLEAN boxers?" Gaz smirked.  
  
"NO." Dib chided. "And I don't wear boxers."  
  
"Oh wait. There's our house." Membrane pointed out side his side of the car window. Gaz turned, and her eyes widened. They had somehow ended up on a hill. Down below was their new town, and with Membrane's specialized goggles/glasses, he could see for miles. Dib and Gaz on the other hand, just saw the city. "If we continue down this road we might come to a junction. Hold on everybodyyyyy!" Membrane floored it.  
  
The car went hurtling through the trees, Dib clinging to his seat in panic as he saw the trees almost leap out of the way of the oncoming car. Gaz just sat neatly in her car seat, twiddling her thumbs. But Membrane suddenly put on the breaks, once again sending Dib's cumbersome head into the dash board again. Even Gaz was almost thrown off of the back seat.  
  
Ahead of them was a statue. It looked like a dog buried into the ground at the waist. There was silver on the statue too, which was mostly covered in green moss; giving the statue a green look. The silver was down the front of the dog's chest; almost like a zipper.  
  
"What the?" Membrane got out of the car, for behind the dog statue was a deep pink building. It had badly shaped windows and doors in the wrong places. There was one proper door, a big one that actually extended into a tunnel. Dib leapt out of the car and hurried up to the building, knocking on the walls.  
  
"It's fake!" he said. Membrane stroked his chin (well, where his chin would be) as he observed it.  
  
"Hey! Get back in the car!" Gaz called from the back seat.  
  
"Hold on now daughter." Membrane walked in through the tunnel a bit, "Let's have a look first. This could be many years old, and we could be the first ones to set eye on it!" Dib rolled his eyes, then glanced over his shoulder at Gaz. No way was he staying with her, so he hurried off after his Dad.  
  
"Ugh." Gaz kicked the car door open and stormed out, after her Father and brother. The tunnel was long, to say the least. Eventually they came out into what looked like a waiting area. Stools, benches, boxes… all kinds of seats were scattered around.  
  
"What IS this place?" Dib asked as he stared at an oddly shaped basin. The sounds of a distant train filled the room.  
  
"We must be near a train station! I haven't seen one of those in years." Membrane declared, before walking through to the other side of the room. Dib followed after him, as did Gaz after staring at the stain glass on the walls. They were incorrectly shaped too, and placed.  
  
Outside, there was grass; fields and fields of it. Statues, very similar to the one they had almost crashed into, were scattered everywhere. All with the same silly face. Dib stared at everything with a blank look on his face. Gaz opened an eye.  
  
"Okay, we've seen it. Can we GO now?" she asked. She was interrupted by a sudden gust of wind seemingly moaned out from the waiting area. It blew her hair into her face, and she swatted at her hair to push it back into place. "Stupid hair!" she scolded.  
  
She looked up, and seen that Membrane and Dib had walked on farther. She snarled to herself and followed after them, hopping over rocks that were in between two small hills of grass.  
  
"I know what this is!" Membrane declared, "It's an old Amusement Park! It must have gone bankrupt when the economy went bad!" Dib suddenly stopped walking and sniffed the air.  
  
"Hey, do you smell that?" he asked. Membrane sniffed too, as did Gaz.  
  
"Hrm, maybe this one is still in business." He wondered aloud. Gaz blinked and looked up. Beyond the rocks were stairs, and at the very top of the stairs it had another statue. This one was of a round face, and just a face. Its mouth was open and seaweed was hanging out of it. Its eyes were staring in different directions too. Membrane and Dib passed it, and Gaz lingered to stare at its vacant expression.  
  
"Stupid." She muttered before following after the two boys. Around them were restaurants. Every single building was a restaurant, but all were closed. Until they saw the smoke coming from one of the buildings. It was set up like a tent, but the material only went half way down the poles that kept it up.  
  
There, laid out before the trio was food. Piles of food, food of every taste and flavour imaginable. Dib blinked a couple of times.  
  
"Whoa." He murmured. Membrane stepped into the tent, observing the food.  
  
"Hello? Anybody working here?" he called out. Dib, finding how hungry he was; hurried up and sat down at a table.  
  
"Hey Dad, when they get back we can probably pay the bill for what we eat…" he said, eyeing what looked like small roasted chickens.  
  
"Good idea son! We haven't eaten all day!" Membrane sat down, and gathered a plate. He quickly filled it, as did Dib to his own. Thus, they began to eat. Well what did you expect? You fill your plate with food, you eat it. Unless of course, you are bulimic. Or something similar.  
  
"What is this, pig out day?" Gaz scolded, as she leant against a pole.  
  
"Mmm! Come on in Gaz, the food's great!" Dib munched out between bites. Gaz rolled her eyes.  
  
"Please. I wouldn't eat that stuff if it was the last food on earth." She replied.  
  
"Your loss!" Dib grinned as he scarfed down onto a corn cob. Gaz found herself feeling rather sick, seeing her brother and Father scarf down food like they were pigs. She glanced around at the restaurants. Well, if she wasn't going to eat she might as well take a look around.  
  
"See you guys later." She said before turning and walking off. She walked along the roads, finding more restaurants. All written in a bizarre language she'd never seen before. Then she stopped. There was a big red bridge, and across from the bridge was a giant bath house. She could tell it was a bath house because of the sign that was actually written in English.  
  
"Welcome to the Bath House!"  
  
She tilted her head to the side.  
  
"Why would there be a bath house in the middle of a food place?" she wondered aloud; before walking onto the bridge and looking down over the railing. Way down below, was a tunnel. A train, which to her at the time looked like it belonged in a Miniatures display, whizzed past.  
  
"Ah. There's the train." She said. Suddenly she felt the presence of someone else, turning she saw someone stood on the bridge with her. Staring was all she could do. He was green, for one. His eyes were a deep red colour, and his clothing was loose and baggy on him. He had antennae, which was stood on end. "What the-?" she stared.  
  
"YOU!" he suddenly screamed, startling her. "What are YOU doing here?!" he sounded enraged, yet worried at the same time.  
  
"What's it to you pal?" she asked, eyes narrowed. He hurried up to her and grabbed her arm.  
  
"You shouldn't BE here you stupid human!" he screeched, and even though Gaz tried to pull her arm out of his grasp; she found that she couldn't.  
  
"Hey let me go!" she snarled.  
  
"It's getting late! Don't you SEE? You have to get out of here, NOW!" she was finding he was pushing her, the same urgency in his voice. But the sun was vanishing behind a hill, and darkness was growing quicker. "They'll be starting their jobs soon, you must move, NOW!"  
  
She then saw why. Some restaurants near by suddenly blinked on. Inside were food, and maintaining that food was… ghosts. Pure black ones, of different sizes. Their pure white eyes pierced the darkness. This would be a good time to run, Gaz decided. So she did.  
  
"Hurry!" the creature screamed after her, "I'll distract them!" he spun around, and the noise of metal filled the air. Gaz would have looked back, but she had to find her Father and even Dib. Sure they got on her nerves, but where would she go, or be, without them? Probably an orphanage somewhere.  
  
"DAD! DIB?! Where ARE you?!" she screamed. Finally she saw the shadowy figures of the two at the same restaurant, and boy was it a mess. "THERE you are!" she grabbed at Membrane's lab coat, "Come on! We have to go now!" the face that turned to greet her, was not what she expected. It was a pig. A big male, pale pig. He had the same goggles/glasses as Membrane wore, and had black hair shooting from its head. The lab coat, she now realised, was stained and pulled tight to the pig; and ripping in a few places.  
  
"SQUUEEALLL!!" it declared, before pulling a whole plate down onto the ground. Gaz then saw what was sat besides the big boar. A smaller pig, not exactly a piglet yet not fully grown. On its back was a tightly fitting jacket with matching pants. The boots lay discarded on the floor, and it too had black hair. It squealed and began nibbling at the table cloth.  
  
CRACK.  
  
Gaz pulled back as one of the ghost figures had suddenly appeared. It was holding a fly swatter (used, EW!) and was whipping it against the larger boar's face. With a few good hits, the boar let out a cry and fell to the floor. This is when Gaz took off running. This had got to be some kind of sick, bizarre joke. That couldn't have been her Father and brother back there.  
  
For the first time in her life, Gaz was afraid.  
  
The ghosts were now everywhere. Looming up in the streets, exiting their restaurants and dragging their feet behind them. She found herself screaming out for Dib and Membrane, but no answer could be heard. Finally she found herself at the same round statue with the dripping mouth. She had to get back through the waiting room, use Dad's mobile and call for help or something!  
  
Hurrying down the stairs, she found herself suddenly waist deep in-  
  
"Water!?" Gaz was indeed, in water. She climbed back up besides the face and stared blankly. The hills were gone. Now there was a vast great river. Like the place where she was, was now an island. In the distance, was the building they had come through. Now it was lighted with life and colour, even sounds. More buildings had appeared besides it.  
  
Gaz glanced around, before sitting down besides the face.  
  
"…this is TOTALLY messed up…"  
  
[To be… CONTINUED! Huzzah!]


	2. Broiler Man with Soot Workers

Gaz is Spirited Away  
Written by: Cartman's Girl  
  
Notes: I'd like to thank all of you who were kind enough to comment on the first chapter. My apologies to those of you who haven't seen the movie yet; because this will travel down the same road as the story. I'm not sure if this will result in a Zim/Gaz relationship, since personally I didn't see Haku or Chihiro as a couple. I personally believe their 'love' was the love of friendship. I mean, she _is_ ten after all… but, view it anyway you want. I'm just gonna have both Zim and Gaz recoil at the 'L' word. Heh…  
  
Now, we continue!  
  
~*~  
  
Chapter Two: Broiler Man with Soot Workers  
  
Hearing a noise ahead, she lifted her gaze. Not far from the top of the stairs, riding boldly on the river was a boat. A very big, fancy boat. One of those boats rich people ride up and down rivers on. It was at his point; Gaz looked down at her feet. They were see-through. Her eyes widened in shock and she stood up quickly, and realised her whole body was se-through.  
  
The boat docked, and the gang-plank lowered. The riders of the boat began to exit he boat, and boy, were they a weird looking bunch. A bunch of them looked like people wearing giant red tablecloths from head to toe, with a white mask on their faces and carrying – with invisible hands – a white booklet. Others looked like chubby, giant penguins with ice cubes on their heads. Gaz didn't stick around to see more, she ran off before anyone of them would see her.  
  
She found herself sitting on the grass, behind a wall. In all her life, she had never hidden before, but there's a first time for everything. A finger suddenly poked her side, startling her. She came face to face with the same creature as before.  
  
"I see you didn't make it in time." He scoffed, "What more would I expect from a human." Suddenly he held up a red berry. "Eat this." It wasn't a request, it was an order. Gaz just glared at him. "Tch, it won't turn you into a pig."  
  
"No! Go away!" Gaz went to punch him in the face, but found her fist and entire arm went through his body.  
  
"Eat it, before you disappear." Gaz went to answer, but found he had pushed the berry into her mouth. She scowled at him, but ate it either way. He watched, with an air of 'I told you so' wafting around him. "There now, you're all better. See?" he held up his hand; but Gaz punched him clear in the jaw; sending him back.  
  
"THAT'S for getting me stuck here." She snarled. He was up quicker then she hoped, and had shoved her against the wall all of a sudden. His hand clamped over her mouth, as his eyes stared sky-ward. She also glanced up, and there she saw a bird, a bird which had a human head. It flapped its wings, circling above before flying away.  
  
"That bird is looking for you." He said, not sounding at all angry that she punched him.  
  
"Oh really, and why is that?" she asked.  
  
"Because you're a _human_. Humans aren't welcomed here." He explained. "Everyone will be looking for you now. So, we have to get you somewhere safe."  
  
"And why are you helping me, exactly?" Gaz asked.  
  
"Something to do." He shrugged.  
  
"Oh." Gaz said. "And can I have your name? Or is that asking too much?" Gaz suddenly found they were walking through the back streets of the restaurants. When they started walking, she didn't know. The green 'boy' stared at her.  
  
"Zim." He replied. They had come to a small latch gate; across the gate were the bizarre creatures Gaz had seen before. Zim opened the latch.  
  
"Hold your breath when we cross the bridge. No one will see you, so hold onto my arm. But if you breathe, EVERYONE will see you; and probably kill you." Zim explained casually. Gaz eyed him, but nodded. She didn't want to be killed, that's for sure. They passed some bizarre frog-like creatures holding lanterns. All throughout this time, they had been greeting the guests as they approached the bridge.  
  
"Welcome back Master Zim!" one cried happily.  
  
"YES. I have returned from my mission. Praise me!" he added quietly to Gaz, "Hold your breath… _now_." And she did. They made their way across the bridge, as they did the passed a figure not moving on with the guests, or moving back. It was all purple, with a pale green mask on its face. It seemed to stare at Gaz, which creeped her out.  
  
Just as they were approaching the end of the bridge a frog leapt out at hem. It too, was dressed. It was grinning, even though it had no teeth.  
  
"Master Zim! YOU'RE BACK!" it had startled Gaz so much, she breathed. The frog stared blankly, "A _HUMAN_!" he cried. Zim pulled his hand up and smacked the frog up the head. It paused in mid-leap, and hung in mid-air.  
  
"Let's move!" Zim seemed to fly, straight under the frog, and the legs of the women who were greeting the guests. The wind caused an up draft; causing the girls to giggle like school girls. The two vanished behind a door, just as the frog fell back to earth. The two were now hiding in some flower bushes, while the sounds of panicking workers filled the bath house. Cries of "Master Zim!" and "A human!" and "We're done for!" and "A human'll stink up the place!" filled the air.  
  
"Huh, great job. All because of a frog." Zim scowled slightly, but sighed. "Still. You did better then I thought."  
  
"So now what do I do?" Gaz asked, hating it when she sounded so helpless. Zim glanced side-ways at her.  
  
"I'm going to have to go in there and calm them all down, but you have to go through that door." He pointed behind her, and Gaz glanced over her shoulder to see the bark. "Head down the stairs until you come to the Broiler Room. There you will find Red Burgundy. But just call him Red, he hates his last name. Ask him for work."  
  
"Ask him for work?" Gaz stared at him blankly.  
  
"Yes. Just keep asking, even if he turns you away, or throws big chunks of coal at you. If you get a job, Bitters can't hurt you." Zim concluded with.  
  
"Bitters?" the names and explanations she was being handed was being met with much confusion.  
  
"She's the powerful witch who runs this whole place. Now I must go." With that, he stood up and walked to the door way which was opened with greetings of "Master Zim! There you are!" he walked in, and the door shut behind him. Gaz sat on the grass for a while longer, then got up and walked to the door. Pushing it open, her eyes widened at how many stairs there were.  
  
"Whoa." Oh well, nothing was achieved by standing around like a wimp. She started heading down the flight of stairs, until one broke. It sent her hurtling down the stairs, unable to stop or weave. She crashed into a wall, which became her breaks. Gaz rubbed her red nose, and started walking down the stairs.  
  
Finally she came to a door marked 'BROILER ROOM – R. Burgundy', and the last name was crossed out poorly with black marker. Touching the door, she discovered the marker was actually soot. Wiping her hands on her other hand, she shoved the door open. Large thick pipes covered the walls, steam hissing loudly and pushing through the tightly welded metal.  
  
Beyond the pipes, was an open door way. A large shadow was working away, and there were noises of something metallic opening, grinding, and shutting over and over again. The heat was immense too. She peeked around the door way.  
  
There, working away was Red Burgundy. He was the same species as Zim, it appeared. But he was much taller. He was simply grinding away at something with his front hands. Another, yes, another pair of arms were reaching out and grabbing colourful hand fulls of coloured 'straw' from three large jars besides his wooden work area. The last pair was moving a large wheel-like device. Two out of the three sets of arms were metallic too. In front of him, was the main Broiler. It was huge, to say the least.  
  
And there was a sunken floor. The walls were filled with drawers, the contents inside were unknown to Gaz. Though on the floor, were workers. It first appeared like the coal was moving itself. Then she caught glimpse of little legs. Were the coals committing suicide? No! At the front of the Broiler, one part kept opening. When it opened, the coal was thrown in. She then saw, they were being carried by little small black soot balls which had arms and legs.  
  
She took in a deep breath, and stepped forward. The workers barely flinched as a stranger entered their work area.  
  
"Are you Red?" she called out. Red ignored her, as one of his back arms suddenly reached out and grabbed one of the drawers. It opened the drawer, vanished inside and reappeared with a handful of more 'straw'. The hand shut he drawer, and went back to work. "Are you RED?" she called. Once again, he ignored her. "Red Burgundy?" she asked.  
  
No sooner had she said that, did the machinery grind to a halt. Red turned his face to glare at her. She now saw why he was called red. His green skin was actually reddish, and his eyes were like flaming fires.  
  
"Don't _SAY_ that _NAME_!" he screeched, "Who are you? What do you want from a slave to the broiler like _me_?" he asked, returning to work suddenly.  
  
"My name's Gaz, and I want a job." She said sternly. Red laughed out loud hysterically, even the soot workers seemed to laugh.  
  
"Oh please. I have enough workers." One of his middle arms suddenly rang a bell. "BREAK TIME!" all the soot workers vanished into their holes and were gone. Red stretched his arms out happily. "As I said, all I have to do is cast a spell on the soot, and I have all the workers I need. Now go away." He shooed at Gaz pathetically.  
  
"I'm not leaving until you give me a job." Gaz repeated, folding her arms and glaring at him. Red glared back, even more determined then she was. She was a human, and he'd get into big trouble for helping a human. Suddenly, a chute opened which Gaz hadn't noticed before. On string, three wooden slates appeared and jingled. Red turned to look at it.  
  
"Aw man! Three soap tokens at once?! I've only got six hands!" he rang the bell again, "C'mon you stupid little soots! BACK TO WORK!" and, as if nothing had happened, the soot workers repapered; dragging or carrying their coals.  
  
"Just give me a JOB!" Gaz cried out as the soot worked around her.  
  
"NO!" Red whined as he poured more powder down another chute. Gaz had to eventually get out of the way for the soots, and sat off to the side. It figured that where she stood, was where Red needed to get straw from. One of his metallic arms stretched out, grabbed her by the back of the shirt, set her down again and pulled some straw out, followed by another drawer.  
  
Gaz watched the soot people work, until one tripped and fell. The giant piece of coal splattered the worker. She stared blankly, as its little arms and legs flailed helplessly as its fellow workers walked around it. Gaz sighed and leant down to pick up the coal. It was heavier then she thought. Really heavy, like dragging a big bag of coal then just one. She managed though, the little soot worker popped out of the ground; then vanished into the walls again.  
  
"Hey wait! You don't expect me to carry this thing do you?" she called after him. Red glanced over his shoulder at her.  
  
"Finish what you started human." He grinned, showing zipper-like teeth. Gaz shrugged slightly, it was what she was asking for. She walked; similar to how a crab walks, carrying the coal. After a bit she got to the opening of the broiler, and threw the coal in. She found herself sweating something fierce, and wiped her forehead. The soot workers stared at her, and one by one… began dropping their coals on themselves. Red whirled around, glaring down at the workers.  
  
"AY! GET BACK TO WORK YOU LOUSY SODS! YOU WANNA TURN BACK TO SOOT?! Look at what you did!" he poked at Gaz, and just as she was about to answer, a door she hadn't noticed opened and a guy appeared. Once again, the same species as Zim. But he was chubbier, and a tad taller. Wearing pink, he was a sight all right.  
  
"What's happening in here? Are you fighting again?" he asked in an inquisitive voice. The coals, which had begun gathering around Gaz's feet, were abandoned as the workers heard the voice. The soot workers hopped over to where he was, squeaking happily. "Red, where's your bowl? I always tell you to leave it out…" Red smacked his lips together as they had lunch break, and took a bowl of assorted food from the guy, and passed him an empty one.  
  
"Yum." He grinned as he dug into the food. The feeding of the soot workers with candy stars begun, until Gaz was noticed.  
  
"The human!" he cried, pointing an accusing finger at Gaz, "Everybody's looking for you, you are in BIG TROUBLE!"  
  
"She's my granddaughter." Red piped up suddenly, causing everyone (including the soot balls) to stare at him.  
  
"Granddaughter?" he asked. "I don't see a family resemblance."  
  
"Says she wants to work here. I think she should go see Bitters though, she's tough. She can handle it." Red mumbled with a mouthful of donuts. Gaz raised an eyebrow, but looked at the guy.  
  
"Yeah, I can handle it!" she enthused. The first response was the rolling of eyes.  
  
"Will you do it for this deep-fried taco?" one of Red's arms extended, holding out the said item with a napkin. There was a long pause, "C'mon Skoodge, I know how much you love em." The one known as Skoodge eyed the taco, and then quick as lightning snatched it from Red's hand and shoved it into his shirt.  
  
"All right, fine! C'mon little human. I'll take you up to see Bitters." He dumped the load of candy stars on the workers, before opening his door again and vanishing into it. He paused, half vanished into the door and looked out at Gaz. "Can't you even say a yes sir?" he asked. Gaz groaned.  
  
"Yes sir."  
  
"And leave your shoes, you won't be needing them. And your socks." He added as Gaz took off her shoes. She scowled, but pulled her knee-high socks off and left them on the floor. The workers gathered around her shoes and socks, observing like they were pure gold of sorts. Gaz climbed after Skoodge, before he turned to her again. "Thank the Broiler man human, you don't know how much he's ticking his neck out for you."  
  
"Ugh. Thanks… Mr. Broiler Man." Gaz gurgled. Red looked at her, and gave her six thumbs up.  
  
"Good luck!"  
  
[Gaz is off to see Ms. Bitters, the horrible Witch of Oz! …wait, wrong story. Well, what shall befall Gaz now? Tune in next time! Same CG Site, same CG web server!]


	3. Obtaining a Job

Gaz is Spirited Away  
By: Cartman's Girl  
  
Chapter Three: Obtaining a Job  
  
Skoodge lead Gaz through the basement. It was full of parcels, probably full of bath products and food. Who knew, for Gaz didn't have time to stop and look through parcels. She stopped to look up, and her eyes opened. It was now apparent how huge the bath house was, height wise. Rickety old elevators operated, and Skoodge pressed a button and one fell to his assistance.  
  
"C'mon human. We have to go to the top floor, that's where Ms. Bitters lives." Skoodge held the door open as Gaz followed and he shut the doors. Lifting on a lever to his right, the elevator shot up quicker then Gaz thought. She put her hands to a railing, to which Skoodge stated, "You want to loose your fingers?"  
  
"Shut up." Gaz muttered, letting her arms hang by her sides.  
  
"Hey, you don't realise how much we're putting on the line here. Seriously." Skoodge glared, still holding onto the lever. Gaz rolled her eyes, and glanced to the side. At that moment they passed the main workers area. Where they slept, got dressed and prepared for work. The next couple of levels were of the actual bath house. Spirits rested in round baths, as workers attended to them. Wether it be bringing them food, or giving them a manicure.  
  
Finally they stopped, and Skoodge yanked Gaz out by the hand. He hurried her down a hallway, and into another elevator just as it was emptied by the greeting women Gaz had seen before. Up they went again.  
  
"How many floors does this place have?" she asked.  
  
"A lot." Skoodge's only response was. The elevator stopped again, but this time they came face to stomach with a pure white creature. He was looming over the two, and was rather chubby. What looked like a moustache hung around it's mouth, but was actually part of it's body. It only wore a red loincloth, and a red bowl on it's head with lettuce beneath. "…the Radish Spirit…!" Skoodge declared, forcing a grin.  
  
"Ugghhhnnn…?" the Radish Spirit asked, pointing upwards.  
  
"Sorry sir, this elevator doesn't go any higher. You'll have to take another one." Once again Gaz found herself being lead along by Skoodge, along a bridge too. She glanced over her shoulder, to see the Radish Spirit following them.  
  
"Great, he's following us." She muttered.  
  
"Ignore him." Skoodge instructed. They headed towards an elevator, and waited. The Radish Spirit followed, and waited besides Skoodge. It opened up, and these… noodle like spirits pass, (at this point Skoodge moved in front of Gaz) and following them is a red haired ex-human boy known as… Keef.  
  
"All righty buddies just go on right through to the right 'n you'll find your rooms!" he grinned after them, then stopped. He sniffed the air, and turned his head around with a 'click' and stared at Skoodge. "Skoodge?"  
  
"What?" Skoodge asked, sounding annoyed. Gaz smirked at the green guy, but then he shoved her into the elevator where the Radish Spirit walked in afterwards, hiding Gaz from sight.  
  
"What's that smell buddy ole pal? There's some smell 'n it smells like a human! SKOODGE! Oh my God you smell like a human!" Keef was doing a bizarre little hop from foot to foot, and Skoodge just glared at him with arms folded.  
  
"Right." He rolled his eyes, then glanced at the elevator. "To go up just lift the lever to your right." Inside, Gaz; who was partly squished against the walls by the Radish Spirit's fatness. She muffled a reply and reached for the lever as Keef continued his bizarre interrogation of Skoodge.  
  
"You're hiding something I know it! What is it?? Huh huh huh? Show meeeee!" Keef whined pathetically, Skoodge rolled his eyes and pulled the deep-fried taco out of his shirt.  
  
"Is this what you're after?" he asked. Keef's eyes widened, and drool began pouring down his front forming a big puddle on the ground.  
  
"Deep… fried… TACO!" Keef grabbed for it, but Skoodge backed up. The silver device on his back, which Gaz hadn't noticed before, opened and four skinny metal legs folded out. They lifted Skoodge up above Keef's height, waving the taco teasingly.  
  
"No way Keef. I'm going to keep every bite to myself."  
  
"PLEASE?? I'll be your friend!"  
  
"No."  
  
"Oh you're MEAN. C'mon!" Keef jumped up pathetically, grabbing at the taco as best he can; but it was just out of his reach. "Just a nibble??" at this point, Gaz grasped onto the lever and pushed it up. The elevator closed and headed up. Skoodge thus shoved the whole taco into his mouth and chewed.  
  
"Aw…" Keef cried. Skoodge thus began to choke.  
  
Up in the elevator, Gaz kept to herself; staring at the highly interesting floor and trying not to think about the big white blob pushing his weight on her. The elevator stopped, and the two looked out. It was a long hallway, on either way you could see through the paper-thin walls the silhouettes of spirits talking. The Radish Spirit pushed the lever, and they went higher.  
  
Once again it stopped. The two looked out. It was a giant room with fancy paintings on the walls. Fancy yes, but with a hint of foreboding horror in them. Like a photo of a fancy lady walking along in the woods, but in the darkness you see glowing eyes and teeth. Gaz stepped out, and the Radish Spirit vanished back into the elevator and down.  
  
"Nice tastes." She glanced at the pure black carpet, with diamonds sewn into it. She walked up a small set of steps to a pair of giant blood red doors. An ugly knocker hung on one door. Gaz reached for the handles, when the knocker suddenly spoke up.  
  
"You're not even going to KNOCK?!" it screeched, making Gaz jump back. "You're one of the most pathetic humans I've ever seen!" the doors suddenly shot open. It revealed a narrow room, with another door. It's door opened. This happened at least four times. From within the darkness of beyond, a hissing voice spoke out.  
  
"Well. Come in." Gaz stood there for a while, wondering if Red's idea about seeing this Ms. Bitters was such a good idea or not. The voice spoke up again, now sounding annoyed. "I said come IN!" the force of someone grabbing her shirt startled Gaz, and found herself being dragged through the rooms quickly. As she passed a door, it slammed behind her. Passing giant vases, she was yanked down another hallway. She found herself tripping up on a carpet and ending up sprawled on the floor.  
  
"Hey don't DO that!" she groaned, rubbing her head. She sat up, and saw three heads sat before her. They were just heads. Brown curly hair hung down their heads, thick beards around their mouths and pupils glasses on their nose. "WHAT the?!"  
  
"Z?" they spoke out, and started hopping around her like deranged ping-pongs. Gaz stepped back, swatting at them but they continued hopping around. A voice spoke from the darkness, the same snake voice.  
  
"SILENCE! I can't hear myself THINK!" the heads did as they were told. Gaz looked up, as she did a light shun down from somewhere upon a table. It was a very tall table, nearly reaching the ceiling. Sat at it was a very skinny woman with glasses on her pointy nose. Her hair was tied back in a bun, and she was writing on papers while piles of diamonds sat on the table. There was a great deal of silence. Gaz coughed.  
  
"So. I came here to get a job from you." She looked up at the giant table, Ms. Bitters stopped her writing and leant over the table to stare at her. She then moved her hand, like she was zipping a zipper. Gaz found out what she was doing, when she found she had no use of her mouth. She grabbed at her mouth, trying to open it.  
  
"I don't want to hear such a stupid request. You, are a pathetic weakling! There is no place for humans here." Came the grouchy reply. Gaz glared up at the woman, feeling herself shaking with anger. If she could get up to her level she'd give her a good deal of dooming. That'd show her. "It's a bathhouse, for the spirits. They come here to replenish themselves and get AWAY from humans. You humans always mess everything up anyway, like your father and brother!" Gaz's eyes widened at the mention of the two.  
  
"Gobbling up the spirit's food, making PIGS of themselves. They got what they deserved." Ms. Bitters pulled a long cigarette out of a drawer, and lit it with a light that appeared on her finger. "And _you_ should be punished too." She took in a deep breath of cigarette, and blew out more smoke then expected. "I could make you into a piglet like your brother… or, maybe a lump of coal?" Gaz was still shaking, the anger rising. "Heh. I can see you shake from here. In fact, I'm almost impressed you made it this far. But I'm SURE you didn't make it by yourself, humans aren't capable of such thoughts! So why don't we thank who got you here?" Gaz felt her mouth open again.  
  
"GIVE ME A JOB!" she shrieked. Ms. Bitters slammed her hands on her desk.  
  
"Don't start THAT again!" she screamed back.  
  
"I JUST WANT TO WORK YOU OLD COW!" Gaz screamed. Everything around Ms. Bitters began to shake suddenly, like a giant gust of wind suddenly entered the room.  
  
"Don't… SAY THAT!" the pens and papers flew in all directions, and suddenly she whipped out from the darkness. Her body warped into something like a snake, and she circled around Gaz; fangs protruding from her jaws and a snake tongue slipping out.  
  
"Why would I give you a job!? Anybody can see you're a bossy, bull-headed, conceited worthless anger box and you have no manners! This is a place of business, and I have all the lazy workers I need!" her scaly dress wrapped around Gaz, and she stood there stone-faced. She then felt the hot stinking breath of Ms. Bitters around her, "Although… I could give you the worst job I have and work you until you breath your very last breath…"  
  
**BOOM.**  
  
Both froze, Ms. Bitters' eyes widening and her body snapped back to that of a human; her clawed fingers at Gaz's neck. Then a very high-pitched wailing sound filled the room.  
  
"Look what you did!" she screeched at Gaz, "You woke the baby!" a green door that was besides Bitters desk was suddenly kicked in, a giant shadowed foot had kicked it in causing the curtains on it to stumble and fall. It kicked again, wailing at the top of it's lungs as the desk toppled to the side throwing boxes of jewels all over. Ms. Bitters rushed to the door, grabbing the drapes and hiding whatever was behind it. "Quiet! Mommy's here, so shut up now!" she turned to see Gaz still stood in the room. "What're you still doing here?!"  
  
"I'm not leaving until you give me a job." Gaz glared.  
  
"All right fine!" Ms. Bitters was thus kicked in the head by the shadowed foot, "Oh that's it! Mommy's coming to get you!" the voice was attempting to sound sweet, but sounded demonic either way. She vanished into the hidden room, leaving Gaz stood there with the three heads. She stared at them, and they stared back. A piece of paper and a pen suddenly floated to Gaz's hands. She squinted at the tiny writing. At that moment Ms. Bitters re-entered the room and started waving her hands. Everything began fixing itself. "That's your contract, go on. Sign your name away."  
  
"Right…" Gaz lowered the paper to the floor and began signing her name.  
  
"I can't believe I took that oath. Giving a job to anyone who asks, I HATE being so nice." She pulled on a rope, which made a ringing sound. Her table was back to normal, as was the drapes and curtains and doors. She clicked her fingers, and the paper Gaz had signed flew to her hands. "So. Your name's Gaz Membrane, hmm?" she asked.  
  
"Yes." Came the gruff reply.  
  
"Such a pretty name." Ms. Bitters gushed falsely, and waved her hand over the paper. Unseen to Gaz, her letters lifted from the paper and into her hand. It left the name Gemmae. "And it belongs to ME now. From now on your name is Gemmae. You got that? ANSWER ME GEMMAE!"  
  
"Yes… ma'am." The newly named Gemmae muttered.  
  
"And if I hear one word of complaint you'll join your family in the pig pen." Zim suddenly appeared in the room.  
  
"Did you call for me?" he asked, sounding irate.  
  
"This girl's signed a contract, send her to work." Ms. Bitters explained in a bored tone, already at her desk again.  
  
"Yes sir! What's your name human?" Zim looked at Gaz, as if he'd never seen her before.  
  
"Ga-I mean Gemmae." Gaz corrected herself. What an ugly name.  
  
"Right. Follow me Gemmae." He lead her from the room, and right into an elevator and he slammed the lever down, causing the elevator to travel at fast speed. Gaz barely flinched, but glanced over at Zim.  
  
"Zim, look I-"  
  
"Do NOT talk to me. And you will refer to me as Master Zim. Do you understand?" he asked, sounding rather nasty towards her. Gaz glared at him, then looked to the floor. Geeze what an ass. He lead her out into the entrance hall of the bathhouse, where all the workers were collected. There were the greeting women who became manicurists and back scrubbers, males who served and cooked the food, and the Forman with the Head Man. The Forman was another one of the green antennaed creatures, but was rather… small.  
  
"What? No way! We don't wanna have a human working for us! I don't care if we get in trouble or not!" he scowled.  
  
"She's under contract. You have to put her to work no matter what." Zim snarled. This caused everyone there to gasp and whisper like it was a giant conspiracy. A girl with purple hair, one of the greeters, waved her hand in front of her nose.  
  
"We do NOT want her in our department!" she piped up, "She'd stink up the whole place!" everyone seemed to agree, murmuring to each other. Zim slammed his foot onto the ground, cracking a floorboard and everyone fell silent.  
  
"SILENCE! She will work! A couple of days eating our food and her smell will go. And if she doesn't work hard enough. Cook her. Roast her. Boil her. Do whatever you want with her. But she WILL work." Everyone began to disperse, heading to clean up after a long night's work. "Now. Where's Skoodge?"  
  
"What!? Don't dump her on me!" Skoodge piped up, as he stood leant against a door frame.  
  
"Heh heh, great! Give the human to Skoodge!" said the Forman, whose name was Bob. If you were wondering.  
  
"You were complaining about needing an assistant. So here she is." Zim looked to Gaz, "Go with Skoodge. He will show you around."  
  
"Ugh fine. You owe me on Master Zim, don't forget that!" Skoodge shook his finger. Gaz glanced back at Zim as he turned and began talking to Bob. Skoodge grabbed her shoulder and yanked her out of the room and down a hallway. Once they were outside the sleeping room, he turned to her. His voice suddenly became chipper, and happier. "You did it, I can't believe it but you did it!"  
  
"What?" Gaz asked in the sudden change of character.  
  
"You're such a dope human, I was really worried about you for a while." He noticed a flinch from Gaz, and his antennae stood up. "What's wrong with you now?"  
  
"…I don't feel too well."  
  
"Ew, human germs."  
  
[Well! Gaz has landed herself a job in the bathhouse, clearly against Ms. Bitters plans. And what's up Zim's ass? Read on!]


	4. Getting Accustomed

Gaz is Spirited Away  
By: Cartman's Girl  
  
Notes: I've gotten numerous comments to not make this like the movie; well it's kind of difficult you see? I'm trying to think of ways of doing that, but I'm finding it difficult. So do forgive me if the characters are slightly too close to the movie, I'm trying to avoid that. Ideas are also welcome if you have tem, but.. e-mail me those. Okay? Thanks. And I am working on pictures of them, it's just difficult since Photoshop7 still isn't in my possession.  
  
Chapter 4: Getting Accustomed  
  
Ms. Bitters held out an arm, and the bird that had been searching for Gaz earlier swooped down and landed on her arm. The bird shared the same face as her, but that was it. Releasing the bird, Ms. Bitters followed and draped a black cape around her. Zim and the three heads were present, and bowed as she left the room. Ms. Bitters leapt up onto the balcony and stretched out her arms. They had become wings, then she flew out into the darkness; accompanied by the bird.  
  
Gaz glances out the window into the darkness, she sees the scattering of lights in the darkness. The clock that was on the entrance building is visible, but still isn't working. Skoodge in the meantime, is going through a cupboard full of clothes. Now and then he throws out some Invader uniforms, and mutters about getting the wrong parcel.  
  
"To big… to small… WAY too big." He throws the 'way too big one' onto the floor, which would easily accommodate a bed. "You'd think we'd have human sized clothes but noooo, sizes for every other species but not humans! I hate this f-found it!" he pulled out the right size for Gaz, and turned to see her still gazing out the window. "Hey what's with you, never seen a river before?"  
  
"YES I have… _what_ is that?" she glances at the article of clothing Skoodge holds up.  
  
"Your new uniform." He replied.  
  
"No way." Gaz snarled.  
  
"YES way. The alternative to this uniform is a nice pig skin and thrown into the pig pen. Or a nice black ensemble that is hinted with the flames of the broiler. You choose." He waved his hand at the clothes like he was informing a buyer on TV how important they were. Gaz gritted her teeth but snatched the clothes from his hands.  
  
"That's a good girl. Now get some rest, we have a busy day tomorrow night." Skoodge smacked his hands together, dusting them off.  
  
"So… we work at night, right?" Gaz asked as she checked the material of the pink suit.  
  
"Yep. The spirits work in the day, come here by night. Slark knows when they sleep. Well! I'm off to bed. Try not to cause any trouble." With that, Skoodge headed off down the corridor to the Males sleeping chambers. Gaz turned around to look into the room. There were blankets and thin mattresses to the side, and just a couple of girls were already in bed. She rolled out a mattress, and was soon asleep.  
  
It was near mid-day when Gaz woke up. She couldn't sleep, and she didn't know why. An unsettling feeling had taken up residence in the pit of her stomach, making sleep impossible to achieve. She lay there, trying to ignore the snoring and murmuring of girls around her.   
  
Then the door opened. She glanced over her shoulder, and saw the body shape of Zim making his way through the sea of sleeping girls. He got to the end of Gaz's bed, staring down at her. She stared back.  
  
"What are you, some kind of pervert?" she asked, narrowing an eye.  
  
"No. I wouldn't bother myself with such joys of the flesh. Look, meet me at the bridge in one hour. I'll take you to see what's become of your family."  
  
"Are they bacon?" she asked.  
  
"No. Just come in one hour." With that, Zim hot-footed his way out of there and closed the door. Gaz lay there, and then grabbed her new uniform.  
  
After giving her face a wash, Gaz started down the stairs Zim had lead her down the night previous. It was really eerie, seeing the place empty as sin during the day. She made her way through into the Broiler Room, where it was now cool. Reason being, it was switched off. Red was fast asleep on his wooden box, snoring loudly.  
  
"Gah." She put her hands to her ears, for it was so loud. She walked to where she'd set her shoes and socks before, and stared. They were gone. "Hey… where's my shoes?!" automatically, the Soot Workers reappeared, carrying her shoes. She grabbed them off of them and dusted the soot off, then pulled them on.   
  
Soon she had climbed the stairs again, and came through the gate. Now the whole place was bathed in sunlight, but still there stood one person at the bridge. It was the same one who had stared at Gaz earlier as she had passed the night before. The pale green mask stared at her as she walked past. Making eye contact could prove deadly Gaz thought, and soon was across the bridge. She turned back to glare at the being, but he had somehow vanished.  
  
"I see you made it." Zim's voice made Gaz jump slightly.  
  
"Don't DO that." She warned.  
  
"Whatever. Now. Follow me." Zim turned and quickly hurried off, and Gaz had to quickly follow. They passed the restaurants, and soon were walking through fields of flowers. "Now listen to me." He instructed as he walked, "If you every even attempt to come here alone, you will be doomed."  
  
"Doomed?" Gaz asked,  
  
"Yes. DOOMED. Ms. Bitters would have you turned into a pig. So NEVER come here without me." He looked over his shoulder, his antennae narrowing as well as his eyes. "Do you hear me?"  
  
"All right already, sheesh." Gaz rolled her eyes. The two had now come to a pig pen. It was giant, and divided into separate pens. Large pigs squealed and snorted and other noises pigs make. Zim walked up to one pen, where a giant boar was fast asleep and asleep in the other corner of the pen, was a smaller pig also fast asleep.  
  
"Talk about your bizarre family reunions, huh?" Zim grinned. Gaz glared at him, but walked up to the pen and stared down at the two. The pig who was Dib rolled over onto his side and snored loudly. The boar on the other hand just scratched at his ear.  
  
"…what's wrong with _them_?" she asked.  
  
"They ate too much. Made absolute PIGS out of themselves. So now they're sleeping it off. Pathetic if you ask me." Zim snorted somehow, folding his arms. Gaz stared back at the two pigs.  
  
"All right, _look_. If either of you two get any fatter I _know_ they're going to eat you. Normally I wouldn't care if you'd be eaten or not, but I doubt I'd be able to get out of this stupid place without you. So you hear me? Dad? Dib? Do NOT get fatter." She backed up slightly, then turned and walked out. "Stupid pigs."  
  
She sat down outside, and folded her arms over her knees. Zim thus sat down besides her, and tsked to himself.  
  
"Here." He suddenly handed Gaz her old clothes. "I saved them for you." Gaz grabbed the clothes from him, holding onto them. The black dress, and the black pants that she wore underneath brought _some_ comfort. She blinked as she pulled something from her pocket, it was her name written by their new house address. "Gaz Membrane… that's my name, isn't it?" she asked Zim.  
  
"Yup, that's it all right. That's how Ms. Bitters controls you, ya know. She steals your name, making you forget your real one." He scowled, crossing his arms. "I've tried everything to remember my name."  
  
"Zim isn't your name?" Gaz asked.  
  
"No. I don't know _what_ my name is. But… for some weird reason I remember yours." He glanced at her, "I have no idea why I'd know you, or how; but I do."  
  
Sitting there, that feeling that had taken up residence in her stomach began to twinge. What if she never got out of here like Zim? Maybe she'll be stuck here for the rest of her life, and her only family eaten up by Spirits. She'd never see a television again, or a GameSlave… everything will be gone. All that will remain would be work, and more work. And being called a stinking human.  
  
Blinking, she put her hand to her cheek. She pulled it back and saw something… damp on her hand. She was crying? Gaz's eyes widened and wiped at her eyes, trying to get the tears to stop rolling. Zim rolled his eyes, and suddenly produced a bun from his pocket.  
  
"Eat this. I can't stand seeing girls cry, so just eat it. It'll help you regain your strength." Gaz eyed the bun, but took it. Anything to get that feeling in her stomach to be muffled by food. She downed the bun, and two more that Zim gave her. They stood up and returned back to the gate.  
  
"Just… try to stay out of trouble, right?" Zim asked.  
  
"I will, I will… hey look, thanks. I mean. No one's ever really… uh, helped me like this before. It means a lot. I'd even go so far as to say you're a friend but I think that's pushing it." Gaz smiled slightly, wow. Not a smirk or a snarl either. Zim shrugged slightly,  
  
"Your welcome." He replied. They just stared at each other for a while, before Gaz hurried back over the bridge. She turned when she heard the noise of metal, but Zim wasn't there anymore. Puzzled, she then looked upwards. There, making it's way through the sky was a dragon. It seemed to be a silver colour, with green streaked here and there.  
  
"Whoa…" Gaz mouthed, and soon it became harder to see. "Zim's a dragon? Cool!" with that she turned and hurried back to the Bathhouse. She needed her rest if she was going to work that night. Unknown to her, somebody followed her. Appearing for a few seconds, the purple clad being followed, and vanished again. Hours later, Red yawned himself awake. He stretched out an arm to grab his kettle of juice when he stopped. There, curled up fast asleep in the corner of the room was Gaz.  
  
"Awww…" he smirked slightly, then draped a blanket over her.  
  
Outside, the weather had begun to change. Giant black clouds carrying parcels of rain started moving in. At that moment, Ms. Bitters returns with her bird and vanishes into her top floor. And so, the night crept up taking control of the day. Let the job begin.  
  
[To be continued! Man, short chapter.]


	5. Cleaning the Stink Spirit

Gaz is Spirited Away  
Written by: Cartman's Girl  
  
Notes: It's been three months, and I apologise for that! Things have been hard with my PC dying; but here is the fifth chapter! Do enjoy, please. And if you can name who was the Stink Spirit you'll get… well… something!  
  
~*~  
  
"C'mon, get to work!" Gaz snorted to herself. The first day of work had begun, and what was her job? Cleaning the floor… with the other brats. Scowling, she dunked her washer into a bucket of water, wrung it out and began to push it against the floor. Well, to be honest she tried. While the others streaked along the floor, pushing the washer in front of them Gaz was struggling. Once she was done she was wringing out the washer again, as Skoodge walked up and placed some cushions around the bath that was set in the centre of the room.  
  
"Haven't you worked a day in your life?" he asked, before straightening them up.  
  
"Hey, Skoodge!" another workman hurried up, "You have to clean out the big tub today."  
  
"What?!" Skoodge cried, sounding enraged. Which he was. "That's Cleaner's work! I'm an organizer  
  
"No arguments! It's from Ms. Bitters, so do it!" with that, the workman hurried away. Skoodge scoffed, and glared out the window. Outside, it was raining. Raining very much so.  
  
"Stupid work. Gemmae!" he turned to Gaz, "Go empty the water into the garden then join me at the main entrance." With that he stalked off angrily. Gaz sighed, grabbing the bucket that was full of water and dragged it out to the doorway. She slid it open and poured the contents out, into the garden. Just as she was about to slide the door shut again, she stopped. Outside, was a figure.   
  
He was tall, to begin with. A light purple robe seemed to cover his entire body from head to foot, and only a white mask stared at her. He was the one who'd noticed her on the bridge, and who had watched her cross it earlier.  
  
"What are you, some kind of stalker?" she asked. There was no reply. "Aren't you sort of getting wet out there?" it was an obvious question, but most people replied to the more obvious ones. Still no answer. "Look, I'll leave the door open for you." With that she went off to join Skoodge.  
  
He stood out in the rain for a while longer, before stepping forward. He vanished into thin air, then reappeared as he stepped into the bath house. Glancing around, he faded into nothingness once again and was gone.  
  
~*~  
  
Gaz's jaw dropped. The tub was huge! And the entire floor was covered in grime, dirt and even straw. The tub itself had grease caked on. Skoodge glared at the mess as he held onto a mop.  
  
"Those ingrates, they haven't cleaned this tub in months." He muttered. Laughter could be heard from other rooms, but Skoodge ignored them and proudly marched in. Gaz followed, and promptly slipped on the floor. Soon the two got to work. They mopped and swept up the mess into a pile, where Skoodge would carry it out and into the incinerator.   
  
Then came the awful part. Skoodge rolled his pant legs up over his knees, displaying his skinny legs; grabbed a thick brush and leapt into the tub. There was a dignified 'Plop' as he landed in. Then he began scrubbing. His antennae perked forward and he glanced up at Gaz who was staring down at him.  
  
"Well come on, you have to do this too." He said.  
  
"No way am I getting in there." Gaz muttered, folding her arms defiantly. Skoodge narrowed an eye.  
  
"Oh yes you are." He replied.  
  
"No I'm not." Gaz glared.  
  
"Yes. You. ARE." With that, Skoodge grabbed Gaz's hand and hauled her into the bath. "I am your Superior and you WILL do this job! If you'd rather go to Ms. Bitters again and end up turned into Slark knows what be my guest!" Gaz shivered. Not in fear, but because of the feeling of the grime and slime. It worked its way between her toes and fingers, and seemed to cling to her legs. She shivered again before beginning to scrub.  
  
"This bath's usually used for our REALLY filthy guests, like garbage spirits, or toilet sewer spirits." Skoodge explained as he cleaned at the bath. "The grease is caked on; it'd take weeks to clean!"  
  
"Skoodge! Gemmae!" a voice rang from the door. Skoodge and Gaz looked up. "You have some customers waiting!"  
  
"Now HOLD on one Cotton Picking minute!" Gaz glanced at Skoodge; in all her life she'd never thought she'd meet someone this ill-tempered. Besides herself. He leapt clear out of the bath with ease, despite his weight. "This is clearly harassment! How are we supposed to clean a bath that hasn't been touched in MONTHS and get it done in time for customers?!"  
  
"I don't care how, just do it!" snapped back the other worker; before marching off. Skoodge muttered some not-so-nice words under his breath. He spun around and leapt back into the bath, showering Gaz with the mess again. "Look, go to the Foreman 'n get us a Soap Token. If we use a strong enough one it'll cover up the mess. Now go." Before Gaz could interject, Skoodge hefted her out of the bath.  
  
"All right, fine!" with that she stormed off.  
  
~*~  
  
Up above all of the workers, Ms. Bitters sat in her room. One of her glasses had telescoped into a little machine. It whizzed in and out as it observed a jewel she was inspecting. Suddenly she stopped. She sniffed the air.  
  
"…something's coming." She said.  
  
~*~  
  
"What? Waste a token on you? No way!" Bob the Foremen scoffed from atop his high chair. See, due to his height he had to sit on a high chair to reach the tokens. At that moment Zita walked past with a guest, and held out her hand. Bob handed her a wooden token. "Relax, enjoy your bath!" he glanced back at Gaz, "You still here? I said no!" another girl walked up, another passing of the token and a false grin and greeting. "Get lost!" he said that to Gaz, if you're wondering.  
  
"But I was told I need a soap token and I'm not going until I get a soap token." Gaz glared up at him. Bob rolled his eyes, but then began scribbling down his records of who's taken what. At that moment, the being from outside slowly appeared besides him. Gaz stared at him, and returned a wave he sent her way. Bob glanced up to see her waving, and glanced to where she was looking at. But nothing was there.  
  
"Great, we got a deranged human working for us. That's just perfect." Then the phone rang. As Bob answered it, a soap token suddenly took to flight. It lifted itself up into the air, and landed in Gaz's hands.  
  
"Ha-ha!" Gaz ran off gleefully, leaving Bob to look confused. But he went back to the phone call. "Yes Ms. Bitters?"  
  
"I want you to be on the alert, put everyone on alert. Something is coming." She hissed into the phone, which to her was a talking skull. It chattered back with Bob's voice.  
  
"Is it another human?" he asked.  
  
"No idea. But just be on the look out."  
  
~*~  
  
Skoodge whistled in admiration.  
  
"Wow Gemmae, you got a good one." He turned the token over in his hands. It was black, with a single red dot at its base. With that he knocked on the wooden wall, and a small part of it popped open. "Now, this is what we do." Ah, he was explaining to Gaz. "We connect the token to this string," as he spoke he acted out what he said. "Give it a tug," he pulled it down, "Release it," he released, "And it goes straight to Red, and he sends us out water." a longer plank on the wall slipped open, it leant all the way down until it was almost touching the bath. Skoodge walked over to it, and up the side of the bath, Gaz followed.   
  
"Then you give the rope a tug. Go ahead." Gaz nodded, grabbed the rope and heaved down. She lost her footing, but held tight to the rope. Water poured down from above, steam emitting into the air.  
  
"What's in this stuff?"  
  
"Grounded Lizard Scales. It's meant to be really good. See, as I said. The colour covers up the mess. You can let go of the rope now." With that Skoodge headed off, maybe to sign off to say they've done their cleaning at least. Gaz released the rope, until she heard a faint breathing behind her. Turning, she saw it was the tall draped being again.  
  
"You again?" she asked. The mask seemed to be smiling now, and he held out his hands. In his hands, were tokens. So many tokens, and in a box too. How sweet. "Uh… thanks… but I only needed one." The mask seemed to look confused. "Look, I only needed one token, not all of them." She explained. The face then turned to sad, and the whole being vanished; dropping the box to the floor.  
  
~*~  
  
The pungent aroma filled the air, even suffocating the scent of the rain. It was a gigantic blob, making its way through the streets of restaurants. At the smell, the black spirits imply closed up shop to escape the vile smell. Ms. Bitters was leaning out the window, and she could see the moving blob from where she was. He left a greasy oily residue behind him, which made the smell even worse.  
  
"Ugh." She rapped on the skull's head, calling Bob again. She didn't even wait for him to answer. "It's a Stink Spirit, I should have guessed. Just give him a bath and get him out of here."  
  
  
At the gates, everyone was in a panic. The smell was awful, and made most of the flowers wilt in an instant. Wait, make that all the flowers and grass and trees. Ms. Bitters has made her way down to the entrance hall; and hauled Gaz along with her while Skoodge had simply popped out to get some lunch.

"Gemmae this is a very big job, so don't mess it up! If you do, I'll turn you into soot and throw you into the boiler. Got it?" Ms. Bitters asked, waving her wand at Gaz.  
  
"Yes ma'am." Gaz muttered.  
  
"Ack, here he comes!" cried a workman who scamped to safety. The spirit hadn't even entered the room yet, but the smell was awful. Gaz's hair actually grew flat and hung against her head, and Ms. Bitters' eyes grew wide. Gaz quickly covered her nose, as the oily residue began imprinting on the drapes.  
  
"Hands down you'll insult our guest!" Ms. Bitters strained. Gaz forced herself to do so, just as he entered. He was very tall, very big, and very stinky. The oily residue kept leaking, filling up the floor of the entrance room. "Ah. A valued customer so… so nice to see you!" Ms. Bitters coughed, trying to hold back some vomit. He then held out a tentacle of grime, "Oh its money! Gemmae, take the nice man's money!"  
  
"Y…Yes ma'am…" Gaz took a forced step forward and held out her hand. The money plopped into her hands, splattering her hands and chest. The oily and grime leaked between her fingers, and even under her nails causing her to shiver all over.  
  
"Don't stall! Get him to the bath!" Ms. Bitters ordered, tears now leaking down her face.  
  
"T… this way…" Gaz turned and began walking rigidly away. The Stink Spirit pulled himself over the step of the Entrance Hall and slimed after her, leaving his oily grimy trail behind him. Like a diseased snail of sorts. Everyone covered their noses with their hands as he slinked past them.  
  
"Gemmae, I got-" Skoodge stopped short, he saw her walk down the hallway, and the Stink Spirit in toe. In an instant, their soup turned rotten. "Oh nutbunnies." He muttered. Ms. Bitters was running, technically flying, through the hallways ordering people to open the windows quickly to ventilate the smell. She then stopped on a balcony and stared down. Down below was the big bath, as Gaz lead the Stink Spirit in.  
  
"This shall prove interesting." She grinned maliciously. Gaz stopped walking and motioned to the bath. The Stink Spirit lifted himself up onto the bath's sides, and then splashed in. Immediate contact turned the water brown and oily, his weight forcing the water that was in the bath to overflow with the grime. Gaz shrieked slightly as she grabbed the box of soap tokens and was washed up against the wall.  
  
"Heh heh. Disgusting!" Ms. Bitters cackled. Bob, who had a 'Michael Jackson' mask over his mouth looked up at her.  
  
"I don't think it's very funny!"  
  
The Stink Spirit lifted his tentacles, and stared. Obviously angry, he let out an unhappy noise and looked at Gaz. Upon opening his mouth, the smell of rotting flesh, garbage and other rotten foods filled the air. Gaz held her breath, but knew what to do. Forcing her way through the mud-like grime she found the wall to open, opening it she clipped a token onto the string. Releasing it, mere seconds later the water chute fell down.  
  
"Who gave her soap tokens?!" Ms. Bitters hissed violently, and glared at Bob.  
  
"I-it's wasn't me! I-It's must have been Keef or something!" Bob twittered innocently.  
  
"Ugh… right…" Gaz walked through the grime again, up the bath sides; even if they were slippery. As she got closer, the Spirit opened his mouth again, hitting Gaz in the face with the pungent vile smell. Her hair stood on end now, but she leapt up and grabbed the rope and pulled. Water poured over the Stink Spirit, cascading over his lumpy body and onto the ground below.  
  
"AH! That's our best token! She'll use all our water up!" Bob shrieked like a sissy, hopping from foot to foot.  
  
"Shut up! Don't make me push you down there!" Ms. Bitters scorned, and then leant forward. "Something tells me that isn't a Stink Spirit…"  
  
Gaz suddenly lost her grip, and fell straight into the bath. The walls of the bath were even more disgusting then before, and it wrapped itself around her whole upper torso, gluing her to the wall. She kicked with all her might, until she felt a hand grab her and unstick her. The Stink Spirit lifted her out the water, she gasped and flailed her arms but her arm hit something.  
  
"Whua?" she asked, and felt again. It was something; something was sticking out of his side. At that moment Skoodge hurried up, wearing galoshes/gumboots that were a bit too big for him.  
  
"Gemmae! You all right?!" he called out,  
  
"Whatever," Gaz replied, "Look there's something caught in his side, I think it's a branch or something." She said, talking loudly so her voice could be heard over the rushing water.  
  
"What?" Skoodge blinked.  
  
"We need something to pull it out with!" Gaz instructed. Skoodge shrugged, looking over his shoulder at the other workers. At that second, Ms. Bitters hovered down.  
  
"That's no Stink Spirit you dolts! Now!" with that she made a rope appear out of thin air and gave it to Gaz. "Tie it on tight! Now!" Gaz began tying the rope around the 'branch', and secured it. "Come on! Everybody grab on!" Ms. Bitters instructed; and seeing as how everyone was her employees they obeyed. Grabbing the rope, they all heaved together again and again. The 'branch' became loose, and was pulled out. But it wasn't a branch; it was a bike!  
  
"A bike?!" Gaz asked, aghast.  
  
"Thought so! Now, everybody heave together!" Ms. Bitters instructed again. "And, HEAVE!" they all heaved, and hoed, and pulled, and tugged, and yanked, and all other kind of words to explain their motions. Gunk began to spew out from inside the Stink Spirit as the bike was pulled out, pulling with it more garbage. On one last heave, an avalanche of garbage spewed out. It hit the workers, sending them reeling back into the grime and dirt and oil; and soon the entire room was cluttered with junk.  A voice, one as quiet as the wind spoke up and only Gaz heard it,  
  
"Well done…"  
  
"Holy s-" Bob began,  
  
"Gemmae!" Skoodge shoved past him, looking at the mess. "Gemmae, where are you?" Gaz was thus spat out of the water, landing on the ground with a thud. Seemed the Spirit had kept her safe from the avalanche of garbage. At that moment, Bob glanced down. Little shimmering pieces of stone were on the floor. It was…  
  
"Gold!" someone cried out. Now of course, if you see free money lying around what do you do? GRAB IT AS FAST AS YOU CAN YOU FOOLS! That's what the servants did. Ms. Bitters let out a hideous and loud hiss, and everyone froze.  
  
"Our guest is still here you dolts! Open the main windows!" she ordered above. The windows were open, and the water in the bath began to bubble. It bubbled until it looked like someone had lit a fire underneath the bath. Suddenly it ruptured. He leapt clear out of the water. It was a dragon-like creature with a man's head. He had flaming blue hair that ran all the way down its scaly body, and pupil-less eyeglasses shone in the light.  
  
The long dragon flew upwards, spinning itself around a support beam and then straight out the window and into the night sky. It continued to fly until it vanished from sight. There was a long pause, until all the other guests in the bathhouse shouted and cheered. The smell was gone, thank Slark!  
  
"Gaz!" Ms. Bitters leapt down, "You did excellent! We've made SO MUCH MONEY! That was a rich and powerful river spirit!" she turned to the workers, "Everybody! Learn from what happened here today! And dinner's on the house." Everyone cheered again, "BUT." Ms. Bitters butted in, "Return all the gold you picked up."  
  
Everybody groaned and complained, and no one seemed to notice the tall purple figure hidden in the corner, who was staring down at the gold with a look on his mask depicting the image of someone who just had a brilliant idea.  
  
[Oh, what could the idea be, pray tell? You shall find out, next time! So, to be continued!]


	6. Guess who's comin to eat you?

Gaz is Spirited Away  
Written by: Cartman's Girl  
  
Notes: Woo, you get to see BLOOD now. YAY!  
  
~*~  
  
The rain had finally stopped, and work was finally done. No one was more grateful for that, then Gaz. It was a tough first day, what with almost being smothered in oily grease, then drowning in muddy water… but at least she got a present out of all of it. When she'd finally gotten her brain around the whole situation, she found a round mossy ball in her fist.  
  
"Whoa, you got a gift from the River Spirit. Now that's neat." Skoodge had said as he looked at it. Gaz didn't see anything so spectacular about it, but it smelt nice either way. But now dinner was being eaten up in their dorms; and Gaz was sat out on the balcony. Her legs hung over the side, between the planks of wood that supported the railing. Skoodge then wondered up, in his PJ's. Blue with red dots. Ow.  
  
"Here, I swiped you a slice of pizza." Skoodge said, handing her a slice.  
  
"Hey neat." Gaz took the pizza and bit into it. She stared out across the vast ocean that now took up residence where the grass once was. "It really did rain that much…" she murmured.  
  
"We don't get rain like this all the time though." Skoodge said as he bit into his own slice of pizza. "Only once every hundred years or so."  
  
"Wait, how long have you had to slave here?" Gaz glanced at him before picking up a slice of salami.  
  
"Going on two hundred and fifty six years. But I'm going to get out sometime…" Skoodge glanced down, and at that moment a train was driving along the train tracks. "I'm going to get on that train one day, and get the heck away from here." Gaz stared at Skoodge blankly.  
  
"I would have escaped long ago if I were you." She sniffed, finishing off the pizza. After a few moments of silence, she spoke up again. "Hey have you seen Zim around?"  
  
"Ugh, not Zim again. Look, rumour has it that he does Ms. Bitters' dirty work. You know, steal things, set people on fire, doom them… they say he enjoys it." Skoodge scratched at his forehead, leaving a smear of cheese.  
  
"So he's bad. Neat." Gaz said the last part to herself quietly, and then looked at the mossy ball. She sniffed at it's fruity scent, then took a bite. She was shocked to learn it tasted hideous, and promptly threw up over the side of the balcony.  
  
~*~  
  
It was now well into the night, and the bathhouse was empty as… an empty thing. You know what I mean. But a lone figure hurried along the hallways, and stopped at the big tub's room. It was the frog. His name's Frog, if you were wondering. Frog leapt into the room, and picked up a stick he had brought in. With that, he began chipping away at the cracks between the floorboard; for gold no less.  
  
Unknown to him he wasn't alone in the room. The purple figure sat up in the bath, looking over at him. The silent one watched Frog search and search, but then Frog stopped. A gold nugget, small but still gold, dropped from the sky and landed at his feet. He leapt at it, scooping it up hungrily.  
  
"It's gold!" he declared the obvious. Then he stopped and looked up. "Hey what're you doing here? The bath's closed! Go home!" he pointed to the door. His response was more gold, dropping from the unknown one's hands. He scooped them up greedily. Greedy Frog. "More gold bits! …Are you giving them to me?" he asked. Once more, more gold appeared. But this time, remaining in the cupped hand.  
  
"Ehh… ehh…" said the purple one. Frog was enchanted somehow. So much gold, he could afford a ticket on the train now, he could kick Ms. Bitters out and own the bathhouse, and he could do all sorts of neat things! He leapt up onto the bath's rim and grabbed the large pile of gold with his fists.  
  
That's when disaster struck. The hand morphed around his neck, and before Frog could do anything he found himself being swallowed alive by the purple one. After devouring Frog, he simply used the stick to pick at his teeth. At that moment, Bob hurried up.  
  
"What's with all the noise? Ain't you meant to be asleep or gone?" he looked into the room; then gold began to shower down from above. He rubbed his flat head and looked up, and there was the purple one. Now adorned with massive and powerful frog legs and hands, one hand outstretched with gold in it.  
  
"Why good morning sunshine! Look, I'm hungry, practically starving myself here! So feed me NOW!" Bob looked totally confused.  
  
"I… I know that voice… somehow…" yes, it seemed Frog's voice was being used by the purple spirit, but yet it had a hinting of puberty induced tone to it.  
  
"Look, just go into the kitchen and feed me. Might as well wake EVERYBODY up, I'm STARVING!"  
  
~*~  
  
Running, so much running. The flowers seemed to fold away as she hurried down towards the pig pen. Gaz skidded to a halt as she entered, and all the pigs were milling around doing piggy things.  
  
"Dad! Dib!" Gaz called out, "I have a gift from the River Spirit here, and if you're smart enough to get your fat porky asses over here you might get back to normal again!" Every pig in the pen lifted his, or her, head. The smell of the mossy sphere was enticing. They all rushed at the gate at once, squealing and kicking at a chance to sample the sweet smelling treat. Gaz stepped back,  
  
"Wait, which ones are you?!" there were a lot of boars, sows and piglets trying to get at her. The gate was beginning to give way, it groaned as the weight of pigs pushed against it. Second later it burst and Gaz was over run with a cascade of pigs.  
  
Then she woke up.  
  
Gaz lay wide-eyed in the bed. Her eyes slowly returned to their squinty-angry look, and she sighed.  
  
"Stupid dream." She then sat up, rubbing her eyes. Then she realised that she was alone in the room. All the other girls had left and obviously in a hurry since all the beds were unmade. "What?" Gaz gave her face a wash, pulled on her uniform and started down the stairs. It was totally quiet. But as she got closer to the baths, she could hear voices. Lots of voices, sounding happy and frantic.  
  
"Gaz!" Skoodge hurried up, "Gaz you've got to come see this! There's a guest here, he's handing out fistfuls of gold for free!"  
  
"What?" Gaz asked blankly.  
  
"Look!" Skoodge held out a nugget the size of a chicken nugget. "Real gold!"  
  
"…look, I haven't got time for that. I have to find Zim, all right? I need to talk to him about something." Gaz said, glancing around. She could hear orders being shouted from the kitchen about 'Him being hungry' and to 'Feed him anything'.  
  
"Ugh, fine." Skoodge turned away, and Keef hurried up next.  
  
"Come on Skoodge, let's get some more!"  
  
"Yeah!" the two hurried off, leaving Gaz alone. She sighed, and turned and headed off in another direction.  
  
~*~  
  
"Come on, more food more food!" the purple one was… much fatter. His slim physique was gone now, and he was a giant blob of pulsing purple flesh. He was sat in the tub, his massive legs hanging over the side and people all around him. They carried plates of foods, all types of food.  
  
He was handed a pig on a platter with an apple in it's mouth. He scarfed it down in a second and spat out the bones and core. He continued to eat like this, until he threw more gold around causing people to squeal happily and grab at it. Yep, he had everyone at his command.  
  
But not everyone.  
  
~*~  
  
Gaz stepped out onto the lower balcony, staring out into the water. It was totally still, and little fish swam across the railway lines. She signed and leant onto the support beam.   
  
"…wonder where he is anyway. He wouldn't just take off like that." She then heard a noise. It was a rustling sound, or more like the flapping of wings. Glancing around, she saw it. It was Zim. The long, metallic dragon was flying through the sky quickly. But something was following him.  
  
It looked like white birds, all rushing to get at him.  
  
"Zim?" Gaz blinked, and watched as Zim zigzagged around the sky, slicing through some of the birds in mid-air with his teeth or claws. "C'mon Zim!" Gaz found herself cheering him on. Hey it'd been a while since she'd seen some violence. "KILL EM ALL!" she shrieked.  
  
But then Zim fell from the sky. He splashed into the water, and as he did a pink residue seemed to leak from him. Zim was bleeding.  
  
"Uh oh." Gaz murmured. He swam a long through the water, the white bird-like creatures following above the water. Zim burst forth from the water and straight up. He flew straight past Gaz, blood splattering onto the balcony and onto the wall. "ZIM! ZIM COME ON!" she shouted, waving her arms.  
  
Zim seemed to hear her, and did a U-Turn in mid air and flew straight at her. Gaz ducked, and he flew straight through the open door and smacked into the walls of the bedroom. Gaz then began trying to slide the doors shut, but one was stuck! She tried again, and it slowly began to slide. Then the birds struck. Well, they weren't birds.  
  
Gaz swatted at them, pulling them off her, ripping them apart and soon it was over. Those that were stuck outside peeled themselves from the doors and flew away. Those on the floor remained there, ripped.  
  
"…they're just paper…?" Gaz asked herself. "They must have given you really bad paper cuts Zim." She turned to look at him. And wow. He looked worse for wear. Blood was practically pouring down from his mouth, and there were cuts clear through his metallic armour and through to his fleshy self. His blood pooled over the beds.  
  
"Whoa." Gaz said. Zim then leapt up, and flew straight past her; crashing through the sliding doors and splattering blood once again, all over. Gaz grabbed onto the balcony that was covered in blood and looked up. Zim was struggling, very much so, as he tried to fly up to the top room. He slammed into the walls a few times; but then vanished.  
  
Gaz was stuck with a dilemma. Would she stay here and clean up the mess, or go up after Zim and make sure he wasn't dead already? She glanced around at the mess. Walls had claw marks in them, blood spilt everywhere, and the sliding doors had seen better days.  
  
"…I'll go check on him." With that she hurried off. Unbeknownst to her though, one little piece of paper was still 'alive'. It stood straight up, and followed after Gaz as she hurried through the hallways. As she climbed the steps, it stuck itself to her back.  
  
~*~  
  
"All hail the rich man  
He's hard for you to miss!  
His butt keeps getting bigger  
So there's plenty there to kiss!"  
  
That lovely song was being performed by Bob, who was waving pompoms happily. In the long hallway, the workers lined both sides and held onto baskets, bowls, whatever they could get their hands on. The figure climbed up from below, revealing his massive self.  
  
"Everybody bow down!" Bob declared. They all did, but then started screeching for more gold. More gold! Gaz then hurried up from the stairs and tried to get into the elevator. But someone stopped her. Another worker, whose name was Willy.  
  
"Duaahhh, what are yew doin'?" he asked as he grabbed her arm. Oh the pong!  
  
"Going up to the top floor, glue for brains!" Gaz replied nastily.  
  
"No yer-AH! Blood!" Willy released her, grabbing his hand as if lethal acid had been dropped on his hand. Gaz saw the opportunity and ran back the way she came. And ran straight into Bob. Or, squashed Bob in this case.  
  
"Hey! Get off 'n out of the way!" Bob pushed at her, and Gaz stood back. She then stared up, and the purple figure stared back. Gaz bit her lower lip. If he's a  customer now… ugh.  
  
"T…_Thank_ you for helping me before." She forced out of her mouth.  
  
"Don't talk to him you puny h-" Bob was cut off as he was grabbed by the head and flung across the room by the purple spirit himself. Gaz and he stared at each other, until he offered her his open palms that were together. Gold began to mount up, until it was a massive pile. The mask now looked happy. He was repaying her for being so nice to him, if you're not with it yet.  
  
"Uh…" Gaz stared at the gold, as did everyone else. But they made envious noises. "No, I can't take that." She said. The mask looked confused. "Look I have a friend who's really in pain right now, and I've got to help him. Thanks, anyway." With that, Gaz ran off. The mask now looked devastated, and dropped his gold.  
  
With that, an avalanche of workers leapt at it, trying to grab it all. Bob wobbled back over, rubbing his head.  
  
"Don't worry sir… s-she's just a stinking human after all…" he grinned happily, "But now we can move onto-"  
  
"Wipe that smile off your face." came Frog's voice. Bob was sort of too shocked to stop at the tone the voice had given. It was dark, very dark. The spirit leant down, the massive mouth that took up residence under his mask was grinning; revealing teeth. "You're still _SMILING!_" with that he grabbed not onto Bob but Zita; and threw them into the depths of his mouth.  
  
Panic insured. As you'd expect.  
  
[To be continued!]


	7. Dogs, Slugs and Train Tickets Oh my!

Dogs, Slugs and Train Tickets; Oh my!  
By: Cartman's Girl  
  
Notes: And here is your prize! THE STORY CONTINUES! Hurrah.  
  
~*~  
  
Gaz stared out from the window she was leaning on. Getting outside would mean she'd have to leap out onto the small shed below. Narrowing her eyes and gritting her teeth, Gaz pushed it open and leapt out. CLANG. Landing on the shed's metal roof almost caused her to slip off, but grabbing onto the railing she hoisted herself up and climbed. Once she got to the top, she stared. There was a long pipe running along the wall (running as in built against it, not running as in like it had many legs) and at the end of it was a metal ladder leading up.  
  
"Ugh. Whoever designed this place should be shot in the head." Gaz growled to herself. She adjusted her pant legs, then took a deep breath and ran. As she ran across the pipe, the old and rotted parts meant to keep it in place dislodged. The pipe began moving away from the wall; but Gaz kept running. "YAH!" she leapt and grabbed onto the ladder, and the pipe crashed into the water below. She blinked her eyes open and began to climb. It's was taller then she thought, but she kept on climbing. For some unknown reason she felt someone tap the back of her head. Glancing behind her, she saw it.  
  
Ms. Bitters was returning. So that's why she hadn't come down to dealt with the carnivorous spirit yet! …wait, that means she'd also see her! Gaz climbed up higher, until she was hidden from view. Above her, Ms. Bitters landed gracefully onto the railing, and released her shawl. Her human form remained, and she leapt off and into her room; followed by the three heads.  
  
Well now she was stuck. The window she had climbed up to was locked. She pushed against it with her arm, and then began slamming her whole weight against the window. Still no luck. Unbeknownst to her, the little paper bird slipped off her back and through the windows, and unlatched it. The second Gaz slammed against it again; she fell straight through into the bathroom.  
  
"…that was convenient." She muttered as she nursed her sore head. She stood up, and looked around the bathroom. It was as highly decorated as other rooms she had seen. Jewel encrusted bath, taps, sink… "Wait. This… is where Ms. Bitters gets… NAKED! AHH!" Gaz ran out of the bathroom as quickly as she could and skidded around a corner. She then ran into a room.  
  
The room was… very bright and colourful. Pictures from story books dotted the walls, of knights, dragons, princesses, happy elves, a cowardly lion; a lot of different characters. The floor was like that of an insane asylum too. Mattress-like and bumpy. So were half of the walls too. Cushions and toys scattered the floor, and a massive bed took up some room in the corner.  
  
"Whoa." Was the only thing Gaz could say. She then heard Ms. Bitters voice coming from the next room. Stealthily slinking over, she glanced out the door.  
  
"You're all so greedy down there! What am I suppose to do with all of you?! I should turn you all into coal and get another lot of servants! That spirit's a Tallest Purple you fools... Fine, fine! I'll be down momentarily. Just don't let him eat anyone else." She was speaking to the skull, as she was before. Turning, Ms. Bitters put on a disgusted face. "Ugh. Dispose of Zim; he's bleeding all over the carpet."  
  
"What?" Gaz whispered to herself. Then she panicked. Ms. Bitters was beginning to head in her direction. Without knowing what to do, Gaz leapt into a massive pile of pillows. Ms. Bitters entered.  
  
"Where's Mommy's little boy?" she asked, in that playful yet evil sounding voice of hers. She glanced around the room, then at the giant pile of pillows. She began pulling some off, causing Gaz to scrunch down more. Ms. Bitters then lifted one pillow, revealing her 'baby'. Her baby wasn't even human. He was a massive, green dog. Well, either that or a robot that was poorly disguised as one. Stitching was evident down the middle of his head, but that's all we could see. His eyes were scrunched up and he was making whimpering noises.  
  
"There you are!" Ms. Bitters' declared, "Hiding under those pillows again." He began whimpering louder, and the whole pile of pillows shook. "Oh I woke you again didn't I? I'll go doom myself for disturbing you then." Ms. Bitters gave the 'baby' a pat then put the pillows back. Hey I rhymed! I'm a poet and I didn't even know it! Ms. Bitters then turned to a light switch and clicked it. High above her, on the ceiling was a mural of the sun. It then began to slide away into the ceiling as the moon took its place, making the room dark with just a hint of light. Then shutting the curtains, she left. Gaz remained hidden in the pillows, then sighed heavily. She was about to climb out when a massive black paw appeared from nowhere and grabbed her arm.  
  
"Agh!" she cried out, and felt herself pulled towards something. She opened her eyes, and came face to nose with the 'baby'. "…whoa, you're bigger then I thought."  
  
"What're you doin' in here?" he asked, his black ears lifting and his nose sniffing slightly.   
  
"Um…"  
  
"GASP. Yer a GERM, ain't ya?" he asked, "Yer one of dem nasty mean germies to make me sick!"  
  
"Wait, what?"  
  
"Germs are bad, m'kay?" he asked, then looked around with a paranoid look. "Mommy says they're EVERYWHERE, 'n that's why I've never been outta this room, 'n never had any play mates… _until now_." His voice took on a scary yet distorted tone at that last bit.  
  
"Hey let me go! I have business to do! Important business!" she tried to pull her arm away, but it was no use.  
  
"Play wif me, or I'll snap yer arm!" he clenched his paw around her arm, making Gaz squirm. She narrowed her eyes at him, and then opened her palm at him. It was still caked with dried blood.  
  
"Look, GERMS! I have GERMS!" she cried out. There was a few seconds of shocked silence, until the 'baby' erupted into screams of hysteria. He released her and pulled the pillows down over him. Gaz rolled out from the pillows and looked out the doorway. The room was empty, except for Zim's body on the ground and the three bearded heads near him. "What're you doing?!" she screamed, the heads ignored her and continued to push against Zim's body. They were pushing him towards a great hole. Gaz hurried up and pulled one off and flung him across the room, kicked the other one and hit the other one away. Grabbing Zim's head she hauled him back slightly.  
  
"Hey come on, wake up!" she shook his head, "Do you want to end up ground sushi or what?!" Then the bird attacked her. Gaz ducked, but the bird attacked again. This was the bird from before, with Ms. Bitters' head. She cawed and attacked again, and as Gaz was trying to get rid of the bird, the heads went back to pushing Zim. But then they all stopped. The ground was shaking. The door was kicked open, and the 'baby' heaved himself through it. The curtains snagged on him, and he fell out completely; taking the doorframe and curtains with him. He was about nine feet tall, green, black limbs and a diaper on. He had a collar around his neck with the name 'GIR' written on it in gold lettering.  
  
"I'm not _afraid_ of germs." He said snobbishly, Gaz smirked. By the way he reacted before it seemed he was pretty scared of them. The heads stared at him in shock, as did the bird. "Now PLAY WIF ME!" he cried out, stomping his foot. "Play wif me, or I'll cry 'n Mommy'll come 'n _kill you_." There's that demonic voice again.  
  
"What a spoilt brat!" came a voice from nowhere. The paper bird lifted off Gaz's back; where it had been hiding all this time. It fluttered over to the ground, and what looked like Ms. Bitters grew from its place. She was transparent though. "Hmf. Still see-through. And what's with this get up?!" she looked down at herself in shock. GIR stared at her blankly.  
  
"…Mommy?" he asked, confused. The new Ms. Bitters stared at him.  
  
"You insolent dolt; can't you even tell me apart from your REAL Mother?" came the reply. And with that, she snapped her fingers. Before Gaz's eyes GIR transformed from his massive puppy-self, into a small baby mouse of the greenish-grey persuasion. The bird and bearded heads began looking worried, the bird took to flight. "There! Now your body matches your brain. Now!" she quickly spun around in mid air, snapping her fingers again. The bird was transformed into a hummingbird. A black one too.  
  
"…w… who're you?" Gaz finally asked. She had been too dumbstruck to ask before. In the background the three heads bobbed up and down, and then leapt atop the other. They then morphed into another GIR, who sat and stared at the trio.  
  
"I," said the Ms. Bitters, "Am Ms. Bitters' twin sister. My name is Tak."  
  
"Tak?" Gaz asked,   
  
"Yes. Tak. And I'm here to take back what belongs to me." Tak said, and as she spoke the Ms. Bitters physique melted away; revealing a creature much like Zim. Green, but she had purple eyes and a dress of purple/black stripe proportions.  
  
"What do you mean by that?" Gaz asked, narrowing her eyes.  
  
"This little creep," Tak walked up to her, staring down at Zim who was still unconscious, "He stole my pendant! My very magical pendant!"  
  
"Oh get off, he wouldn't steal from you!" Gaz glared at the see-through Tak.  
  
"Do you know _why_ he became my sister's apprentice?" getting no response, she went on. "To steal her magic. Zim is a dirty little thief, he's been stealing her magic and now he's stolen mind." Tak then grinned demonically, "But little did he know there's a curse on it. Whoever steals it… _dies_."  
  
"Dies?!" Gaz found herself worrying, and she had no idea why. "You can't kill him!"  
  
"I can, and will." Tak folded her arms, "He's a rotten little thief and deserves to be punished! Now hand him over." Tak ordered.  
  
"No!" Gaz snapped. It was at this instant in which the fake GIR began trying to squish the real GIR. It was in this second that Zim snapped his red eyes awake, swiped his tail around and sliced the white paper bird in two. The real GIR and bird hurried over to Gaz and hid in her pocket.  
  
"Oww… paper cut…!" Tak screeched as the see-through figure sliced into two and melted away. But due to his sudden movement, Zim's body slid into the hole.  
  
"Zim you're falling!" Gaz grabbed his head trying to pull him out, but found herself pulled in after him. Gaz held onto him as the group fell. I say group since GIR and the bird were still with them. The drop was long, and Zim forced his eyes open. Down in the pit below, were the black ghosts that ran the restaurants. This is where they slept during the day. Before they splattered into them, Zim hauled himself up, flew above them and up through a large 'pipe'.  
  
Gaz grabbed onto his horns to prevent from slipping off. It was in this instant that she got de-ja-vu. In her memory, she was underwater, the reeds washing up against her face. And a shoe… but as soon as she had seen it; it was gone.  
  
~*~  
  
Down in the broiler room Red was on his lunch break, and enjoying some nice soup. At that second, out from the fan above him, Zim, Gaz, and their two little hitch hikers slammed in through it. Red was startled and screamed like a girl, until he realised who it was.  
  
"Gemmae!? What're you doing?!" Zim crashed up against the wall, blood still leaking out of his mouth and he looked distorted and angry as Hell. Gaz got up off the floor, and looked to Zim with wide eyes.  
  
"Zim what's _wrong_ with you?!" she asked. Zim glared at her, and then snarled in her face causing her to fall onto her back. He then coughed up blood again and collapsed onto the floor, exhausted.  
  
"Eek, blood!" Red made sure he didn't step in it as he walked up to the two, GIR and the bird perched on his head. "Jebus, this looks serious." He said.  
  
"Well what's wrong with him? Do you know?" Gaz looked up at Red, who narrowed his eyes.  
  
"Well from my highly evolved brain I can pretty much guess he's bleeding from the inside. Y'know, internal injuries. And they're the hardest to fix!" Red explained, before grabbing a mop and began mopping up the puddles of blood.  
  
"Umm... okay, okay… look Zim?" Gaz knelt down besides him and pulled out the mossy ball that the river spirit had given her. "Look, I got this from the River Spirit. I… uh, I guess it'll help you feel better, okay?" Gaz tried to open Zim's mouth, but his teeth were clenched tightly. "Open your mouth you idiot!" She growled in aggravation, and then bit some of the ball off. She chewed it up but then took it out. It was still green but not as hard, now it was soft and pulpy. Mmm. Pulpy. Red then leant over with a pair of his robotic hands and forced Zim's mouth open. Gaz threw the moss inside and held onto his mouth. "Swallow, swallow!" she growled.  
  
Zim's eyes bulged, tears forming at the corner of his eyes. He snarled viciously, trying with all his dying might to shove Gaz off of him but it wasn't working. His legs scratched at the drawers, his tail slammed against the wall making some drawers fall out of their place. Then he vomited. Well, projectile vomit of one little blob more like. It shot out from his mouth as he had pulled his head away from Gaz, and it landed on the floor. The little audience of soot workers stared in amazement. Red looked at it, eyes widening.  
  
"Gemmae look!" she glanced at it, and the black blob sizzled away. What was left was the gold pendant, and a slug sitting on top of it. Realizing it was out in the open, it squeaked and squirmed away. "GET THAT SLUG, GET IT!" Red screamed like an old lady. Gaz leapt down and began chasing after the slug.  
  
"Come here you…" she stomped her foot at it, trying to squish it. Finally, SPLAT. She got it. Her hair stood on end for a second before flopping down again.  
  
"…you squashed it! Quick!" Red leapt off from his box near Gaz, "Put your forefinger and thumb together!" Gaz did as he said; "Evil be gone!" he sliced his hand between her fingers and thumb.  
  
"…what's that meant to do?"  
  
"Well when you squish on a slug its bad luck, you have to do that before the bad luck rubs off and you might die a terrible, terrible death!" Red explained, and then shivered. "Oooh, very bad."  
  
"…right." Gaz walked over and picked up the pendant, "I guess this is Tak's…"  
  
"Tak's solid gold pendant!" Red gasped in awe, "Oo lemme touch it!"  
  
"No!" Gaz held it tightly; "This belongs to Tak…" she then glanced over at Zim. During all the commotion, his dragon self had melted away and his er, 'human' form remained there. "Zim!" she hurried back up, and rolled him onto his back. "Hey! Earth to Zim!" Gaz shook him, but no reaction.  
  
"Hmm. I think he just needs rest, I mean. If I had just gushed all that blood out I'd need to rest too." Red glanced around his once clean boiler room; now it was blood caked.  
  
"I guess…" Gaz put a hand to her chin in silent thought. "Red, I think I know what I have to do." She said.  
  
"You think it's time to break into a song?" Red asked.  
  
"No. I have to go and take this back to Tak and apologise for Zim… maybe then she could fix him?" Gaz asked.  
  
"Oh I don't know… I've known Zim since he first arrived here." Red replied as he began sponging up blood again.  
  
"Really?" Gaz asked, "What was he like?"  
  
"Well, didn't look like that, that's for sure." Red motioned to him. "He looked more human before, hair; normal eyes and skin colour. He just showed up one day, out of nowhere too. Then he got mixed in with Ms. Bitters, and decided to become her apprentice." With four arms cleaning, the other two took to the task of making a make-shift bed for Zim. "I warned him not to do it, that Ms. Bitters was a… well I won't repeat what I told him." Red grinned slightly.  
  
"So… becoming her apprentice changed him?" Gaz asked.  
  
"Something like that. I told him to go home, not to stay here. But he said he didn't have a home to go home to, so he stayed here. Over the years his human like appearance vanished and he became that." Red pointed at him. Gaz stared down at Zim, then back at Red.  
  
"Well that's just weird." Gaz commented.  
  
"I'll say." Red agreed as he laid Zim onto the make-shift bed he'd made of a thin mattress and a pillow.  
  
"But I still have to do it; I'm going to go to Tak's." Gaz nodded.  
  
"Ooohh… wait!" Red turned and hurried up to a set of drawers and began searching. Gaz then looked at the soot workers,  
  
"Okay guys, I need my shoes and clothes." They chirped happily and hurried off. At that moment, Skoodge entered through the sliding door.  
  
"Gemmae!" Skoodge shut the door behind him, "Where have you-wait, what happened in here?"  
  
"Long story." Red called from his searching.  
  
"Gemmae, everyone's looking for you." Skoodge said, looking to Gaz. "Ms. Bitters is furious! More so then usual. The spirit with all the gold, he's a monster! And he's eaten like three people already!" Skoodge glanced around nervously, "You never know if he's going to eat anyone else or what!"  
  
"Yeech." Red said.  
  
"And they say you're the one who let him in!" Skoodge whined slightly. He had to stare at the soot workers who were now bringing out clothes and shoes. Gaz blinked,  
  
"I did let him in. I thought he was a customer or something." Gaz shrugged as she took her clothes and shoes.  
  
"Ohhh boy, you're in BIG trouble then." Skoodge folded his arms.  
  
"GOT EM!" Red suddenly screamed, causing everyone – except Zim – to jump.  
  
"We're busy Red." Skoodge muttered, but Red hurried up, holding tickets.  
  
"Here you go."  
  
"Train tickets?! Where'd you get those?!" Skoodge was in total shock. Train tickets were hard to come across indeed  
  
"I've been saving them for one hundred years… but I've gotten used to this place. Even you, Skoodge. Now, Gemmae. You want to get off at the sixth stop, it's called MiMi Main. Got that?" Red asked, as he handed her the tickets.  
  
"MiMi Main, sixth stop. Yep." Gaz pocketed the tickets.  
  
"What?! You can't go now! Ms. Bitters wants you up there on the double!" Skoodge declared, "If you just leave you'd be in more trouble then usual!" but neither were paying attention to him.  
  
"See the train used to go back and forth, but now it's a one way road. Think you can handle that?" Red asked.  
  
"Hello? Hey! Somebody listen to me!" Skoodge waved his hands hysterically.  
  
"Sure. I'll walk back along the tracks if I have to." Gaz nodded, and then glanced to the side. "Dad and Dib'll have to wait then." She murmured.  
  
"I'm Skoodge! Skoodge yeah yeah! Come on now! We have work!" Skoodge folded his arms and muttered things under his breath sulkily.  
  
"Okay fine. Let's go deal with this Purple spirit." Gaz nodded to herself. She then turned to Zim and leant down besides him. "Okay Zim, listen? I'm going to be gone for a while, but I'll be back. All right?"  
  
"…what's going on there?" Skoodge asked.  
  
"Something you wouldn't understand. I think its love." Gaz whipped her head around and glared at Red, "Or friendship. I dunno, I confuse the two!" he grinned nervously.  
  
[To be continued! Bleh, didn't like this one much…]


	8. Finding Zim's Name

Gaz is Spirited Away  
By: Cartman's Girl  
  
Notes: Do forgive me, but the Chihiro/Haku thing is hard to work around in this chapter. Plus – another chapter that's hard to work into a Zimmy way.  
  
The hallway was lined with people, pushing big carts of food. Ms. Bitters had managed to move Purple into a room that was out of the way, and away from eating more workers. Sarah rushed from the room, up to other girls.  
  
"He just keeps getting bigger!" she cried.  
  
"Well I don't wanna be eaten!!" cried another.  
  
"Look - it's _her_." said a voice. Everyone turned and stared as Gaz made her way down the hallway, avoiding glares. Bob's replacement named Spleen; hurried up.  
  
"Gemmae, thank goodness!" he grabbed her arm and hauled her away towards the room. From the sliding doors you could hear things being thrown around, food splattering and such.  
  
"Now calm down sir, I'm SURE they'll find Gemmae eventually." Ms. Bitters' strained voice said from behind the walls.  
  
"Where's Gemmae?! I want Gemmae!" came the angry voice of Bob, but we all know Bob's been eaten. So like Frog's, Purple is using the voice to speak.  
  
"As I said, she couldn't have gotten far!" Spleen leant against the door, and called through gently.  
  
"Madam, Gemmae is here now!"  
  
"FINALLY." Ms. Bitters shoved the door open; she turned and spoke to Purple who was hidden from view. "Just one minute sir!" she slammed the door, and hissed violently at Gaz; the snake-like appearance flashing back across her face for a second. "Gemmae! Thanks to you he's eaten three people now, and destroyed the main suite room! I don't care how you do it but you better mooch off EVERY SINGLE LAST PIECE OF GOLD he has or ELSE!" she then paused. Gaz wasn't alone, a mouse and a little bird was on her shoulder.  
  
"Chuu!" declared the mouse happily.  
  
"What's that disgustingly filthy mouse doing in here?!" Ms. Bitters asked angrily.  
  
"Uh, he doesn't look familiar?" Gaz asked cautiously.  
  
"Of course not! Why would a filthy disgusting disease ridden rodent look familiar?!" GIR looked very upset at this, but then frowned angrily. Ms. Bitters then opened the door and shoved Gaz through, "Here's Gemmae!" she declared in her chirpy voice; and slammed the door shut.  
  
"…is Gemmae going to be all right in there by herself?" Spleen asked. Sure he was angry at her, but he didn't want their last chance of money to be eaten!  
  
"You want to replace her?" Ms. Bitters snarled.  
  
~*~  
  
Inside the room, it looked like a tornado had run through. Nothing was upright, or clean. Food scattered the room, slop against the walls… and sat in the very middle was Purple. He was humongous now, and he stared silently at Gaz who remained on the floor. He staggered over to a platter and picked it up. It had a bizarre dish on it, even I can't explain what it looked like.  
  
"Here, try some. It's delicious!" Bob's voice declared.  
  
"No thanks." Gaz replied. The platter was dropped, and the large body turned to face her again.  
  
"You wanting some gold? I'm not giving it to anybody else!" Frog's voice asked. Gaz rolled her eyes.  
  
"Look, I don't have time for this. I have a… uh… friend who is in trouble and I need to help him. Look, maybe it's time you went back to where you came from?" Gaz asked. The mask looked blank for a minute, then turned to an upset face. "Don't you have a home or family?"  
  
"No…" came a voice Gaz hadn't heard before. It was gentle and quiet. Purple's real voice? The mask began sinking into the rolls of fat. "I'm lonely… so lonely…" but he was over taken by anger and leapt at her; one hand extended. "Take the gold, TAKE IT! TAKE IT OR I BLOW YOU UP!!" Bob's voice screamed. His hand was now practically in Gaz's face, and the gold piled up.  
  
"…you're not going to eat me are you?" Gaz asked lowly. She saw some fingers shoot out from the hand and was about to wrap around her head.  
  
"Find out." Bob's voice said coldly. GIR then leapt up and bit into Purple's hand. "ARGH!" he pulled his hand back and stared at GIR, "A mouse!" he moved to squash it; but the black hummingbird grabbed GIR by the scruff of the neck and hovered away with him. Gaz paused for a while, and then stood up.  
  
"Look, I was saving this for my family but I think you need this more then anyone here. You're too depressing, it's pathetic." Gaz threw the moss ball straight into Purple's mouth before he could even answer. It rolled down his throat, and dissolved in his stomach. Purple stood there, but then coughed. He coughed again, more violently then before. He staggered backwards, then slammed up against the wall and heaved dryly. Gaz stood back slowly until she was against the wall. Then Purple vomited. Brown muck erupted from his mouth, splattering all over the floor and walls. He turned around, vomit clinging to the corners of his mouth.  
  
"Gemmae!" cried Bob's, Frog's, and Zita's voice cried at once, "What have you done to me?!" he vomited again, this time green muck overlapping onto the brown. He then snarled viciously and leapt at Gaz. That's when she ran. Throwing the door open she ran past some workers who had been listening in. They were flattened under the weight of Purple as he shoved the doors down on them, and ran after her. It was also now we see that his… uh… ass was kind of turning into melting rubber and leaving pieces of it after him. Like how snails leave a trail where they walk, Purple was leaving ooze and body fat. EW! People screamed and ran out of their way as the two raced down the hallway. Ms. Bitters then leapt out from a corner.  
  
"That's it! I don't care if he's King of the Spirits!" Ms. Bitters called up an energy ball and blasted it at full force at Purple as Gaz ran past her. It smacked him in the mask, which did no good. He then gave her a bath in his projectile vomit. It smothered Ms. Bitters, and he leapt over her. Now Gaz was on the stairs, running down them as the humming bird carried the mouse GIR along with her. Purple stretched out at her, trying to reach. But no use. He kept on vomiting as he ran, and leaving a trail of muck behind him. But by now, he was thinning. He wasn't so fat and squishy. Gaz suddenly slammed into an elevator, but turned and ran out through a servant's door. Purple ran into the elevator too, and then vomited up Zita and Bob. Both slid across the floor, covered in spit, vomit and food. Bob sat up in shock,  
  
"…now THAT'S an oesophagus!" he declared. By now, Purple was his thin self again, with the shape of Frog still bobbing around inside his transparent body. Gaz lead him through the kitchen.  
  
"I'll get you for this Gemmae…!" Frog's voice called out, until he spewed again. "Ugh, excuse me." The two were outside now, and Gaz was hurrying down another ladder. It was old too, and snapped off once she gotten to safety. Then she saw Skoodge waiting in a makeshift boat. It was once a washing tub, but now a little boat.  
  
"Gemmae, get in!" he called out. Gaz grinned and leapt in besides him, and Skoodge began working the boat towards the train stop. Gaz then pulled her uniform off, to reveal her usual black dress, purple and black stockings underneath. She was holding her shoes if you were wondering, nosy readers! Gaz glanced up, and saw Purple making his way along a giant pipe. He stared down at the two.  
  
"Hey! Over here!" Gaz called out.  
  
"Gemmae! Don't call him over!" Skoodge cried, he glanced over his shoulder as Purple leapt off the pipe. "Huh great, now your fan club's following us… probably to eat us too."  
  
"I doubt it." Gaz said, "I think… maybe whoever he's around, affects how he acts. I mean, all the workers there want money to get away so maybe that's why he gave money out… and since I let him in, he wanted to thank me… I dunno. I'm just stabbing in the night at this." Gaz shrugged. Purple was now walking along the tracks; and spat up Frog finally. Frog woke up, and swam away back to the Bathhouse.  
  
"This is as far as I go…" Skoodge said as he stopped the boat. Gaz climbed over and onto the tracks, still covered in water. GIR and the little bird joined her too, on her shoulders. "Look Gemmae," he began, but Gaz had already begun to walk away. Skoodge looked slightly hurt, but then called out. "Gemmae!" I'm sorry I called you a dope before, and a stupid human! I take it all back now!" his only response was Gaz waving her shoes. Skoodge sighed and turned back, passing Purple. "Hey Purple! You hurt her and you're in _big trouble_." Skoodge made a fist at Purple, who gulped.  
  
~*~  
  
The station was more or less a raised piece of stone, and Gaz stood there waiting. GIR was engrossed in all the water, and a bug that was skittering along the ground. Gaz looked up, and there was the train arriving.  
  
"There it is. If only public transport was that reliable in my world…" Gaz murmured. Purple hurried up, trying not to be run over by the train. He wasn't. The doors slid open and the conductor stood there. He was a spirit too, but had no face. He was just a human shaped black spirit in clothes. His hand held out. "Oh right." Gaz handed him the tickets. He opened them, and then counted Gaz, GIR, the bird and… he pointed past Gaz. She stared at Purple who was waiting. "Uh… you want to come too…?" she asked. Purple nodded happily. "Fine, all right. Come on."  
  
The group clambered onto the train, and found their seats. GIR sat on the window ledge and watched the scenery flash by. He'd never seen the world, and this was thrilling to such a young animal. He jumped up and down as they passed towns, railway stops, and trees that weren't flooded in water. Gaz watched the other passengers get off at their own stops, counting as they went. Purple just kept to himself, staring out the window that was across from them. He'd seen this all before, because he'd been wondering this plain all his existence. He couldn't say life; since he wasn't technically born. Sucks to be him, eh?  
  
~*~  
  
_Meanwhile at the bathhouse...  
  
_Zim's eyes flashed open. He slowly sat up and rubbed his eyes. Glancing around he eventually got his bearings. The boiler room? He then saw Red fast asleep across from him, snoring loudly. Zim scooted over and shook Red's hand.  
  
"Hey! Hey! Wake up!" Red snorted somehow through his non-existent nose, and stared at Zim for a while.  
  
"Heeeyyy… you're all right…!" he declared.  
  
"Um, yes I am. Obviously." Zim said. "But what am I doing here anyway?"  
  
"You were in a coma of sorts I guess. After coughing up the pendant you just blanked out on us."  
  
"Us?"  
  
"Gemmae was here too. But now she's gone." Red shrugged as he began clearing the bed.  
  
"Gemmae… wait, where is she now?" Zim asked.  
  
"She's gone to Tak's to return the pendant, and apologise for _you_." Red replied as he shoved the mattress away.  
  
"…I do remember kinda…" Zim narrowed an eye, "I mean, hearing her voice was pretty freaky but I guess wherever she was, it wasn't in darkness. So I just followed it, and here I am." He stood up, dusting off his clothes.  
  
"I'd say it's love-" Red shrugged, but shied back as Zim glared at him. "But I guess friendship works too! Yup, friendship!" he grinned nervously, rubbing his hands together.  
  
"I see…" Zim grinned slowly to himself. "And now… I have some work to do!" he hurried off through the doorway, and was gone.  
  
Upstairs, Ms. Bitters sat near the fire, wrapped up snugly. A towel kept her wet hair out of her face, and a towelling dressing gown wrapped around her body. Next to her was a table with a box full of gold. Bob, Spleen and Frog were there too, bowing before her as one is meant to do when in the company of highly refined folks. 'GIR' was there too, shoving his face full of chocolates and food.  
  
"Huh! This isn't NEARLY enough to cover all the damages that stupid Purple caused!" Ms. Bitters growled, "Gemmae did an awful job! She is to be punished!"  
  
"Madam…" Frog spoke up, "But she's the one who saved us…"  
  
"I don't care about that! Why should I?! And her father and brother should be fat enough to be cooked!" she grinned maliciously, "Turn them into bacon!"  
  
"Wait." All four turned, and Zim entered the room gracefully. Well not really, he tripped over a rug, but that doesn't matter.  
  
"Master Zim!" the trio called out.  
  
"You're still alive? Will wonders never cease?" Ms. Bitters smirked. Zim walked up to her, narrowing his eyes slowly.  
  
"You know what's a wonder? That you haven't realised something precious to you has been taken." Zim pointed out, "Or something along those lines."  
  
"Don't get fresh with me!" Ms. Bitters snapped, "And who are you to speak to your master like that, hmm?" she stared down at Zim, but he did not avert his gaze as usual. She then blinked, and looked at the gold besides her. Checking one piece, she felt relieved to see it was real gold after all. The room was totally silent. Silent, that is, unless you don't count the sounds of 'GIR' stuffing his face. Ms. Bitters glanced at him, and then snapped her fingers. Before her eyes, 'GIR' transformed back into the three heads. Knowing they were in trouble, the three retreated as fast as they could out of the room. Ms. Bitters stared in wide-eyed horror.  
  
"My… baby!" she cried, and as she cried out the gold turned into dirt! Oh my God! Who didn't see this coming? "MY BABY!" Ms. Bitters' snake form seemed to take over and she slid at lightning fast speeds from the room and into GIR's room. She threw pillows everywhere, the toys and upturned the bed. "Come out! COME OUT! Where are you!?" she looked around the curtains, "SWEETIE PIE?!" she screeched. Zim walked casually into the room, kicking a stuffed doll to the side. Ms. Bitters then whipped around, her snake form clicking back into place. "**_YOU!_**" she hissed, fire burning from within her mouth. The towel over her head fell off and her long grey hair shot up into the air due to her powerful magic. Oo, Super Saijin! Before Zim could blink Ms. Bitters had wrapped her snake body around him, fire still burning from her mouth. "**_WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY BABY?!_**" she ordered.  
  
"He's at your sister's." Zim said calmly, as if Ms. Bitters couldn't squeeze him to death there and then. The fire burned out within Ms. Bitters' mouth, and smoke bellowed out and her long hair slid down her head.  
  
"Tak…?" her human form returned, and she turned away from Zim and staggered away, collapsing onto a chair. "I see Zim… very clever… you'll get my baby back but at a price…" she smirked back at him. "So, what is your price?"  
  
"Release Gemmae and her family." Zim replied, "And return them to the human world."  
  
"Ah, I see. But Zim, I get to give Gemmae one more final test. If she wins, she goes free. But if she doesn't, she's _mine_."  
  
~*~  
  
Sixth stop, MiMi Main.  
  
The sign read it clearly enough as Gaz stared up at it. But it was now dark, and the stars twinkled high above their heads. Gaz looked at the darkened forest before the group. It was dark, and sort of intimidating. She took a deep breath and began to walk, and Purple followed like a good little puppy. The group were at the fringe of the forest now, when they heard a noise. It sounded like footsteps, but if someone only had one leg. Out of the darkness hopped a streetlamp, one of those old ones you light with a match. Except it had a hand at its base, which it used to bounce along.  
  
"You don't see that every day." Gaz said. Purple made an agreeing sound. The streetlamp stopped before them, then began bouncing back but stopped after a while. "Oh. Our guide, I guess?" she asked. GIR squeaked happily, and the group followed. It was a good walk through the forest, but with the streetlamp lighting their way they had no worries. Eventually they came to a nice little cottage on the other end of the forest. It was humble and cosy. Totally different to Ms. Bitters' house. The streetlamp took up its post again, hanging from above the door. Purple stared at it in a nervous way. Before they could knock the door opened itself.  
  
"Come on in, I don't have all day." came a familiar voice. Gaz walked in, and Purple remained outside. "Come on now!" Purple hurried in as the door shut. There stood Tak, with a black cat with red eyes sat across her shoulders. "I see you made it. Go on, I'm going to make us some tea or coffee. Whichever you want." Tak walked over to the stove and put the kettle on. Gaz walked up to her, and held out the pendant.  
  
"Tak, uh, Ma'am, this is your pendant; right?" Tak glanced at it,  
  
"Yes it is."  
  
"Well Zim stole it from you as you said; but here." Gaz handed it to Tak, "I'm here to apologise for Zim. He's just had it rough, I guess."  
  
"Hmm." Tak observed her pendant, "Wait. The protective spell's gone! What'd you do to it?" Tak asked.  
  
"Uh… was it a slug? If it was, I squashed it." Tak stared at Gaz blankly, and then erupted into hysterics.  
  
"You squashed it!" Gaz didn't expect her to react like that. If someone had killed a spell she'd made, she would have been angry. "No no no, that wasn't my spell! My sister put that slug into Zim so she'd be able to control him!" Tak giggled, "Squished slugs!"  
  
"Oh." Gaz said.  
  
"Heh. Now come on, tea time!"  
  
~*~  
  
GIR was delighted. He'd found himself running on a spinning wheel. You know, one of those threaders that Sleeping Beauty pricked her finger on and fell asleep. Never in his life had he thought he'd find joy in just running! But he did. Purple was enjoying his tea and a slice of tea cake, while Tak was reading a book.  
  
"It seems to me you have a big problem." Tak said. "Having to recognise your family from a herd of pigs…"  
  
"I know, I know…" Gaz watched GIR snatch a cookie and chew on it quickly and hungrily. "But what's really weird is that I get the feeling I've met Zim before… a long time ago."  
  
"That's a good a start as any!" Tak grinned as she pushed her seat back, "You never really forget someone if you met them. Now, you sit and think s'more about your problems while I and the boys make you a present."  
  
"A present…?" Gaz asked slowly.  
  
"Well I don't get visitors that often, I like to give them a little token of thanks."  
  
~*~  
  
Gaz sat by the door, arms around her folded legs thinking deeply. She knew she had met Zim, but where and when was lost to her. For all she knew, he could be dead by now and this could be for a big fat waste of time! Tak's cat had also taken a liking to her, sat curled in her lap. Even if the lap was kind of squished.  
  
"That's it… Purple, where'd you learn to spin thread like that? You aren't some spinning spirit are you?" Tak asked as she was sanding down a white object in her hands. Gaz got up, holding onto the cat and walked up to the group.  
  
"I still can't remember anything." Gaz stated, "Don't you have a memory booster around here?"  
  
"Not really." Tak shrugged as she took the black thread from Purple and did some quick handy work. "But here." She held up the necklace. It had a strong thick black thread, and hanging from it was a wooden skull. It was pure white, and eyes were squinting angrily.  
  
"…for me?" Gaz blinked.  
  
"Yep! Since your friends helped make it, it'll help you get through anything you encounter." Tak explained as Gaz took it and tied it around her neck.  
  
"Neat… uh, thanks I guess." Gaz shrugged. She wasn't used to getting presents that often, even her father missed Christmas and birthdays now and then. The wind suddenly picked up outside, and the rushing sound pushed itself against the door, as if it was knocking.  
  
"Wonderful! More guests!" Tak declared, "Go get it Gemmae, will ya?" she asked.  
  
"Uh, fine." Gaz walked over to the door and pulled it open. She came face to snout with Zim, who was once again his dragon-form. "Holy Tuesday, Zim!" Gaz cried out, and her feet rushed her forward and she actually found herself with her arms around Zim's head. "You're actually all right! You don't have rejuvenation powers and didn't tell me, do you??"  
  
"Awww!" Tak declared as she hopped through the door, "That's so cute!"  
  
"Shut up Tak." Gaz muttered.  
  
"Kidding, kidding." Tak walked up to Zim, who was now released from Gaz's arms. "All right Zim, I _do_ forgive you for stealing my pendant… I guess even I can't hold a grudge forever. Except against my sister. But in return you have to look after this one, all right?" she thumbed at Gaz. Zim seemed to purr slightly, but nodded. "And goodbye you two…" Tak turned to see the little hummingbird supporting GIR again. "Come and visit soon, all right?"  
  
"Chuuu!" GIR declared, planting a smooch on Tak's forehead before being carried off. Purple walked up, but seemed to hang back slightly.  
  
"Hm. Purple, if you want you can stay here. I could always use an extra pair of hands around the place." Tak offered. The mask perked up slightly and he nodded. By now Gaz was just about to get on Zim's long neck, but looked back at Tak.  
  
"Hey Tak?" she called out.  
  
"Yeah?" Tak answered,  
  
"I want you to know my real name. It's Gaz. Gaz Membrane." Tak smiled,  
  
"Gaz, now that's unique! You take care of it." Tak called out as Zim began to take to flight.  
  
"I will!" Gaz called back. If you were wondering, GIR is clinging to her shoulders as Zim bursts up into the night sky and heads back in the direction of Ms. Bitters' bathhouse. They have a good journey ahead of them, so it's best if we skip to a while later.  
  
Later…  
  
Gaz was still hanging onto Zim's horns as the sun was now beginning to peek in over the hills in the distance. GIR was asleep in her dress pocket, as was the bird. She looked troubled, but was thinking deeply. In her mind the memory was playing over and over. The small river… a shoe falling in, then Gaz fell in after it… her eyes open widely.  
  
"Hey Zim, guess what's just happened?" she asked. Zim tilted his head slightly to show he was listening. "I've just remembered where we've met. Years ago, there was this river Dib and me were checking out. He'd heard there was an alien landing there or something stupid – but I remember my shoe falling in. I tried to grab it, but I fell in too. I thought I'd drown, but the currents carried me back to the shore."  
  
Zim sounded confused, since he didn't know what she was getting at, well he did sort of.  
  
"It was the Zamitmara; and I think that's your real name! Zamitmara!"  
  
The reaction wasn't what she'd expected. Zim froze in mid air. He began to shake, as if in pain as the metallic scales all over his body took to flight and vanishes into the air. Gaz found herself not riding on a dragon, but that of Zim's body again. But he didn't have antennae this time, or green skin.  
  
They began to fall, but neither was that afraid. Zim held onto Gaz's hands as they plummeted towards the water below. Gaz came face to face with Zim, but it was the human-form Red had spoken of. Black hair, which seemed unkempt at the moment, and clear blue eyes.  
  
"I can't believe it but you did it!" Zim called out, "That was me! I was the river spirit of the Zamitmara! I _do_ remember you!"  
  
"That river's long gone now – they built apartments over it!" Gaz's mind was piecing together now.  
  
"That's why I can't go home again!" Zim declared, "I can't believe it…"  
  
"I _so_ knew you weren't bad." Gaz grinned. Zim grinned back happily at her, and just before they were about to smack into the water they hovered across it, and flew across the water until they could see the Bathhouse begin to emerge in the distance…  
  
[To be concluded!]


	9. All Wrapped Up

Gaz is Spirited Away  
Written by: Cartman's Girl  
  
Notes: Well, here it is. The final chapter to the whole thing. I do hope you enjoyed it.  
  
~*~  
  
The natives were restless – if you are to call workers natives. The bathhouse was still and quiet, the only noise was that of squealing and snuffling. Pigs had been brought from the pen, and were being contained in a small pen. Boars and piglets squealed away in the cramp room, but kept their noise to a minimal.  
  
"Look – there they are!" cried out Skoodge. Where was he? He was on top of the surrounding roofs! As were a lot of the workers, even Red was out of the broiler room with a few soot workers on his shoulders. Ms. Bitters stepped out of the shadows, firmly held in her hand was a rolled up piece of paper.  
  
"Seems everyone's here." Zim said as they touched down. Gaz glanced at him,  
  
"Why's that?" she asked.  
  
"I don't know, go find out!" Zim shooed at her.  
  
"So! I see you failed to bring him back with you!" Ms. Bitters called out. The little hummingbird took to flight again, carrying the mouse. He flew higher in front of Ms. Bitters, and thus released GIR who, as he slammed his feet onto the ground was back to his normal giant self.  
  
"Momma!" he declared. Everyone looked pretty shocked at how he'd just seemingly appeared from nowhere – as did the bird.  
  
"My baby!" Ms. Bitters cried out, "Did they do HORRIBLE things to you?! Are you traumatized?" she paused, blinking. "Wait. When did you start standing up on your own?"  
  
"She did what you wanted Bitters." Zim called out as he stepped onto the bridge, "Now, tear up Gemmae's contract and let her family go."  
  
"Humph! Not so fast young man!" Ms. Bitters called out, "She has one more test!" This caused everyone to moan and complain from their places on the roof, and inside the building. "SILENCE!" she screeched; and everyone either hid or shut up. Or wet themselves, as Red did.  
  
"Stop it Momma." GIR ordered suddenly, causing Ms. Bitters to stare at him wide-eyed. Maybe the first time he's spoken, let alone tell her off? "Me 'n Gemmae had so much happy fun stuffs!"  
  
"…b-but sweetie, a deal _is_ a deal…" Ms. Bitters replied, in a voice which sounded stretched.  
  
"If yew upset her… I'm not gonna like yew anymore." GIR folded his arms and nodded. The bird replied with a 'caw!'  
  
"Bitters!" Gaz stepped forward, "You're right. A deal _is_ a deal." She walked across the bridge and stopped in front of Ms. Bitters. "I'll do your stupid test."  
  
"Nice to see you've come to your senses." Ms. Bitters smirked, then looked at GIR. "This will only take a minute!" with that she walked towards the pigpen. Gaz glanced at GIR,  
  
"It'll be fine – believe me." Gaz found herself stood at the front of the pig pen, "So what am I supposed to do here?"  
  
"Pick out your father and brother from these pigs. If you guess correctly you can all go back to the human world. Guess wrong, and your family will be cooked and eaten while you remain as my worker forever." Ms. Bitters explained.  
  
"Oh." Gaz stated. She looked at the pigs. By now some were sniffing at the ground hungrily and a piglet was chewing on the string hanging down from the surrounding mesh. From somewhere, the Jeopardy thinking song began to play.  
  
"Time's up!" Ms. Bitters cried out and the music screeched to a halt. "Now. Choose!"  
  
"Pft, you must think I'm some kind of idiot or something." Gaz scoffed, "Because none of these pigs is Dad _or_ Dib." She pointed out.  
  
"Is that your final answer?" Ms. Bitters asked,  
  
"Yes, I lock in A. None." Gaz grinned back at her. Ms. Bitters paused; and the contract burst into flames in her hands. The pigs stopped what they were doing and transformed into workers! Wow, wish I could do that.  
  
"YOU GOT IT!" they declared. All around Gaz the workers cheered and hollered, throwing confetti, rice, and other assorted party favours.  
  
"Fine!" Ms. Bitters called out, "Get out of here!" she shooed at Gaz, who grinned and curtsied in a teasing way.  
  
"Thanks, _Granny_." With that she ran off, and stopped and waved to everyone who was still waving and cheering. Zim then grabbed her hand and lead her through the restaurants. "But where's my family then?" she asked.  
  
"When you answered correctly they woke up on the human side of the hills. They're looking for you right now." Zim explained. They came to the steps, but now the water was all gone. As if the flood had never happened.  
  
"Wait. Wasn't there an ocean here?" Gaz asked.  
  
"That dried up when you answered too. Now look… when you leave, don't look back. No matter what. Just keep going, and don't look back until you're through the waiting rooms." Zim instructed.  
  
"…what about you?" Gaz asked.  
  
"Hey, do not fret for Zim! I'm off to have a talk to Ms. Bitters, and get out of being her apprentice." He paused, and noticed Gaz's somewhat worried expression. "I'm fine now, I know my name. But you, you have your world and I have mine. Now get going before I make a scene." Zim shooed at her. Gaz smiled, yes, she actually smiled a genuine one here. No smirk or grin.  
  
"Thanks Zim. I'll miss you. Uh, I guess…" she shrugged. Zim smiled back.  
  
"Y'know, the adventures of a human girl and a river spirit amount to a hill of beans in this crazy world. See ya around kid." Zim grinned at her. Gaz poked her tongue out at him, and then headed down the stairs.   
  
~*~  
  
"Gaz!" Dib called out, looking under a rock, "Nope, she ain't here! Can we go now?"   
  
"Now now son, we can't leave your sister in this place! Who knows what kind of hobos come out here at night!" Membrane declared. Dib rolled his eyes,  
  
"Dad, hobos don't live in the hills."  
  
"There she is!" Membrane pointed. Dib looked up, and there Gaz was, making her way down the hillside.  
  
"About time! We've been calling your name for hours!" Dib called out. "Well okay maybe not hours, but seconds!"  
  
"It's not right to wonder off like that young daughter, you might end up lost!" Membrane said, shaking a finger at her general direction. Gaz stopped as she got to the bottom of the small hill and stared at the two. They really had no memory at all of being the pigs. To them, maybe just a few minutes had ticked by; and not days.  
  
"All right all right, _sorry_." Gaz grumbled as she walked up to them.  
  
"Now, let's get going. The movers are bound to be there by now!" Membrane pointed out, and started heading back into the waiting building. Dib followed, but Gaz remained for a second or so. Resisting the urge to look back, she forced her way through the passageway after her family. Eventually they came out of the tunnel to the waiting car.  
  
"What the?" Membrane asked. The car was covered in leaves and twigs, as if it had been left alone for days! Gaz smirked, "What kind of a joke is this?"   
  
"Ah forget it Dad – maybe it's the hobos messing around." Dib jokingly said.  
  
"My God son, you're right! Everyone in the car, you don't want any hobo germs!" Membrane opened the door and brushed some leaves and twigs out and got in. Dib leapt in the front too. Gaz didn't, for she was staring into the dark tunnel they had just come through. Membrane leant out the car's window and called out to her.  
  
"Come along Gaz! Time to go!" Gaz nodded then turned and hopped into the back of the car. Membrane backed up, did a U turn and went back they way they came. Gaz sat up in the back seat, watching the tunnel get smaller and smaller until all she could see was the green bushes and trees again.  
  
"A new house, school and city. I guess to you it is a scary thing, but there's nothing to be afraid of." Membrane said. Gaz sat down in her seat, wrapping her hands around the skull necklace which neither of them had noticed.  
  
"I think I'll be fine." She said with a nod. "I'm going to be just fine."  
  
"Say that now, wait until you have to rescue me from certain DOOM for your own good!" Dib declared dramatically. Gaz blinked.  
  
"What does that mean?" Dib paused, tapping his head.  
  
"…nevermind."  
  
[The END!]


End file.
